Compromised
by BlueScorpion
Summary: ***COMPLETED*** A unknown, vengeful Goa'uld is at the SGC, and leads SG-1 on a mission to save one of their own. (Has not been updated - I updated the wrong fic - Sorry Tigerdrake)
1. A New Friend

This is my first fic. Please R+R and be nice… please

TITLE: Compromised

AUTHOR: BlueScorpion

RATING: PG-13 (for violence/language)

CATEGORY: Drama/Angst (kinda)

PAIRING: None

SEASON: 5, somewhere between Last Stand and Meridian 

SPOILERS: The Nox, In The Line of Duty, 1969, Seth, TBFTGOG, Holiday, Upgrades, Shades of Grey, The Curse, Summit / Last Stand, probably a few more.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own them. I never have and unfortunately never will, and for this, they are grateful!

A/N: Since I first posted this story I have received a couple of reviews pointing out a few inconsistencies. To this end, I have changed the first two chapters slightly. So if something doesn't make sense with the beginning of this story, then the chances are I missed it, so please let me know by E-Mailing me. (Thanks to Eddy and Irene for pointing out my errors)

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As the wormhole disengaged behind SG-1, Colonel Jack O'Neill took in his surroundings on PJ5-483. The M.A.L.P. telemetry had shown trees and ruins, and that's exactly what he saw. This was more Daniel's sort of mission. Another planet where Jack could just sit and wait until Daniel's excitement of alien scratches in lumps of rock had passed, and they could go back home.

Jack looked over at Daniel. The young archaeologist was already examining the ruins, looking for something familiar. Jack sat down on the stone steps leading up to the Stargate. He really didn't see any point in his being here, there was nothing he could do or say that would help, and no knowledge he could contribute to either Daniel or to Carter, who was now taking soil samples. Trees were green. He knew that, but then again, everyone knew that. It couldn't help much. He decided to contribute the only way he knew how to on missions like this;

"Nice day. What d'ya say, Carter? Few less trees, bit more sun, we could turn this into a regular vacation spot for the entire SGC."

Sam turned and looked at Jack, and gave a slight smile. She knew exactly what was going on. The Colonel wasn't feeling useful enough and so decided to make some sarcastic comment about the weather. It happened every time and for some reason it still made her laugh.

Jack smiled and began strolling around the area and thinking. He could make his team laugh. At least that was one good thing he could do.

He stopped suddenly in his tracks and called Daniel over. Daniel reluctantly left his rock and stood beside Jack. Jack pointed towards a nearby group of trees.

"You see anything over there Daniel?"

Daniel squinted at the trees. He could see nothing. He was beginning to think Jack was going crazy, when suddenly a figure ran through the trees straight towards him. It was a young woman; her face caked in blood. She looked terrified. She ran straight into Daniel, pleading for his help.

"Woah, slow down," Daniel said, "What's your name?"

"I am L'Anya. Please help me, They come from the East, in groups. They are hunting me." She began to cry. "We must leave. Please, please take me with you."

L'Anya looked anxiously behind her, and Jack saw what she had been running from. Less than thirty meters away was a Jaffa patrol, staffs at the ready. Jack pulled out his gun and ducked behind a rock. Sam and Teal'c followed the example along with Daniel, who grabbed L'Anya's arm and pulled her down with him. Jack looked up over the rock and fired a round towards the group. They responded by firing back in Jack's direction, narrowly missing him.

"O'Neill!" Teal'c shouted, "more Jaffa are approaching!"

Jack looked ver to where Teal'c was watching. Another ten or so Jaffa were moving towards them. Jack took a good look around. If they moved now they could get out alive; there was no way in hell they could fight off the entire troop.

"Alright," Jack shouted, "Carter, dial us home."

Sam quickly headed for the DHD. Jack followed behind her, laying down cover fire. As the wormhole opened, shock registered on L'Anya's face. "You came through the great circle!" Daniel took her hand, dodging the continuous fire.

"It's okay, there's nothing to be afraid of. We'll just take you to our world where you'll be safe." L'Anya looked behind her at the closing Jaffa. She needed no more convincing. She followed Sam, Teal'c and Jack through the gate, Daniel close behind her.

Jack reached the other side first and waited for Daniel to come through the gate. "Close the iris!" Jack shouted. Walter was in the control room and began to close the iris. But it was too late. As it began to spiral shut, a single staff shot fired through the center of the gate, and caught Daniel in the back. He let out a cry of pain before falling unconscious on the ramp.


	2. Miracles and Missions

Immediately, Walter stood up and shouted over the intercom: "Medical team to the embarkation room. Repeat: medical team to the embarkation room."

Jack knelt down beside Daniel and tried to wake him up. "C'mon Danny, wake up!" Jack searched for a pulse, horror rushing through him when he failed to find one. He moved aside when the medical team arrived and carried the lifeless Daniel to the infirmary on a stretcher.

Hammond ran into the gate room, a look of concern on his face. He addressed Jack.

"Colonel? What happened? The M.A.L.P. showed no signs of hostility on that planet."

Jack gestured towards their new friend. "This is L'Anya, sir. She was being pursued through the woods by a Jaffa patrol. She asked for our help."

Hammond looked at L'Anya. "I'm General Hammond, commander of this facility."

"It is an honor to meet you," L'Anya replied with a bow of her head.

"Are you injured?" Hammond asked.

"The blood is that of my father. He sacrificed himself in order to save my life. If it were not for him or your team, I would not be standing here now. I thank you from the bottom of my heart." Again she bowed her head. Jack looked at her.

"You got a bad cut there," he said, pointing at her right cheek, "Better let Doctor Fraiser take a look at that"

L'Anya followed Jack through to the infirmary, meeting Janet at the door. She looked upset.

"Colonel, I'm so sorry. We did all we could. Sam tried using the Goa'uld healing device but… it just wasn't enough." Tears were in her eyes as she moved aside to let Jack through.

Jack moved slowly past Janet and stood beside Daniel's bed. L'Anya stood beside him.

"You say the Goa'uld healing device failed?" She asked. Jack nodded his head slowly. "Perhaps I can help. Will you allow me?" Jack looked at the Doctor.

"Well there's nothing more we can do. She may as well try."

Sam handed the healing device to L'Anya. L'Anya put her hand up. "I do not need that." Sam looked surprised but stepped back to allow L'Anya to help Daniel.

L'Anya closed her eyes and placed her hands together over Daniel. She breathed deeply and moved her hands closer to him. Suddenly, a blinding light surrounded the two. Jack, Sam and Janet shielded their eyes. The light lasted a few seconds before fading. Jack looked at Daniel. There was no difference. As Jack was starting to leave, Daniel's eyes flickered open and he drew a sudden breath. Jack smiled and put his hand on Daniel's shoulder. "Great to have you back, Spacemonkey!" Although Daniel looked confused, Jack decided not to explain what had happened just yet, and to leave him to recover. He followed L'Anya out of the infirmary, not sure what to say first. He settled on the easiest: "Thank you," he said, "How…."

"I gave him my life force," she replied.

"You gave him… isn't that dangerous? For you I mean?"

"I was nearing the end of my life, I needed someone to carry on my mission for me. I am sorry."

"What mission? L'Anya?"

L'Anya reached out and grabbed Jack's shoulders. She clung on as her knees collapsed and she fell to the floor. Jack bent down, and held her head in his lap. He called Sam over.

"Go get the Doc, Carter!"

L'Anya reached out her hand and grabbed Sam's arm. "No," she said, "I cannot be helped." Sam's eyes widened and she pulled her arm back.

"L'Anya," Jack said, "What mission?"

"I am sorry…"

"L'Anya!" Jack shouted. L'Anya's eyes slowly closed and she took her last breath.

Jack lowered her head slowly to the floor, somewhat sorry. Although it was her fault Daniel had been shot, she did warn them about the Jaffa and then saved Daniel's life. He stood up and called a couple of nurses over to take L'Anya's body through to the infirmary. Then he and Sam made their way to the post-mission briefing. Jack was concerned for Sam. 

"Carter? You okay?"

"I'm not sure sir, I think L'Anya is a Goa'uld, or at least she used to be. When she grabbed my arm… I just knew. It's like that feeling I get, only not as strong."

"So… she used to have a Goa'uld… or she still has one?"

"No, it's gone. I'm pretty sure about it, sir. She definitely used to have a Goa'uld, but I can't tell you how long ago."


	3. More Surprises

Teal'c was already sat in his usual place when Jack and Sam arrived in the briefing room. General Hammond entered shortly after. SG-1 began to stand. "As you were," Hammond said, "Doctor Fraiser tells me Doctor Jackson's fine. It's good news."

"Yes, sir," Jack replied.

"What about our guest?" Hammond asked. Sam shot Jack a nervous look.

"She's… dead, sir," Jack finally answered, "I'm not sure how. She said something about transferring her life force to Daniel before she died. Something about a mission."

"What kind of mission?" Hammond asked.

"I'm not sure, sir," Jack continued, "she just kept apologizing. I asked what she was talking about but she died before she could answer." He hesitated, "Sir, she said she was near to the end of her life, but from the look of her she couldn't have been more than twenty-five."

Teal'c raised an eyebrow, "Perhaps she has had access to a sarcophagus," he suggested. There was a long silence. Jack decided to tell everyone what Sam had said.

"Carter thinks she was a Goa'uld," he put in.

"Major?" Hammond looked at her. Sam explained the feeling she had when L'Anya touched her arm. "Are you absolutely sure?" he asked. Sam nodded. "I thought you said she was running from a group of Jaffa?"

"She was," Jack answered, "Could have been a setup."

Sam looked confused. "But sir, why would she give her life freely if it was a setup?"

__

That was a point, Jack thought, _Why would she? And what the hell was the mission she was talking about? _It was all too much to think about.

"Well, SG-1," Hammond said, "Until Doctor Jackson is fully recovered, you all have some well overdue leave to make use of." Jack and Sam smiled. Hammond stood up, "Dismissed."

About an hour later, Jack was ready to go home. He decided to visit Daniel. Teal'c had already visited, so had Sam. It wouldn't look too good if he was the only one who didn't go to see him. He walked into the infirmary and was greeted by Janet. "How's he doing?"

"He seems fine. Better than fine actually, considering. I've put off running any tests for a while incase I disturb whatever L'Anya did to him. I'll be checking him in about and hour to see what actually happened."

"Thanks, Doc," Jack answered. He made his way over to Daniel's bed. "Hey."

"Hey."

"Doc' says you're gonna be fine."

"Yeah, I feel fine. Actually I feel… great… what exactly happened to me?"

"You, um… died."

Daniel stared up in disbelief. "I died. Okay… I wasn't expecting that… Am I dead now?!" He smiled.

Jack smiled back. "No, you're alive and kicking Dannyboy," he laughed, "Anyway, Hammond's given us some leave while you recover. Carter's gone home, Teal'c's off visiting his family, I'm off to… um…"

"Sit on your ass and do nothing?"

"That's it!" Jack said. "So if you feel like fishing sometime you know where to find me." He stood up.

"I'll… keep that in mind," Daniel said, "See ya!"

"See ya Danny!" Jack left the infirmary laughing to himself. He really couldn't imagine Daniel fishing.

Jack sat at home, on his ass, drinking beer and doing nothing. For a moment, the idea of retiring again passed through his thoughts. He enjoyed doing nothing. It was relaxing. A knock at the front door interrupted his thoughts and he reluctantly put down his beer and got up to answer it.

Back at the SGC, Janet called a nurse over, "Give me a hand with these tests, will you? I wanna know what L'Anya actually did…" She stopped in the infirmary as she saw Daniel's bed was empty. She looked around for him, giving up after failing to find him. The tests didn't really matter for the moment. Daniel was fine. "Never mind. It can wait 'til morning." She took on last quick glance around the room, as if expecting to find Daniel hiding under a cupboard, before going back to her office.

"Hey Daniel!" Jack said, surprised at the man who stood at his front door. He stepped aside to let Daniel in. He walked blankly past Jack. "Shouldn't you be… resting… not here?"

"I told you I'm fine," he replied, "I just needed to get out of the infirmary, that place was driving me crazy."

"Ceiling décor getting to you?" Jack joked

Daniel laughed. "That was bad enough. It's just every few minutes people were coming through asking me how I was, if I was all right. It just really started getting to me."

Jack picked up his empty beer bottle and attempted to drink. After failing that he went through to the kitchen.

"Want a beer Daniel?" He knew what the answer would be, but it was only polite to ask.

"Sure, why not?" Daniel sat down by Jack's chessboard and stared across the room.

Jack looked up. That certainly wasn't the response he had expected. The last time Daniel was here he told Jack he didn't even like beer. Jack opened the fridge again and got another bottle out, opened it and carried it through to where Daniel was sat. He handed the beer to Daniel. His friend looked miles away as he took it.

"What's on your mind Dannyboy?" Jack sat down opposite Daniel.

"Hm? Oh! I was just thinking about all that we've been through in the past … what is it? Two years?"

"Uh, Almost five, six if you count the first Abydos mission " Jack corrected him

"Six years…"

"It's been one hell of a ride, that's for sure"

"It's amazing, I mean, I've been killed, travelled in time, visited alternate dimensions, swapped bodies with people…" he stopped, "if you had told me five years ago that any of this was even possible… I would have thought you were totally crazy!"

Great, Jack thought. This is where he starts to pour his heart out. He went to get another beer. As Jack opened his third bottle he sensed Daniel behind him. "You know Daniel if you really want another beer you could just ask. Sneaking up on people to steal their booze isn't very nice. There's plenty in the fridge." Jack turned around. Daniel was staring at him. "Well if you really want this one…" he joked, holding out the beer towards Daniel. Daniel turned away and started for the living room. Jack followed him and put his hand on Daniel's shoulder. For whatever reason, Daniel needed a friend right now; He seemed preoccupied. Almost reflexively, Daniel spun around and looked straight at Jack, his eyes glowing. "Oh crap!" Jack whispered to himself.


	4. Attack!

Daniel thrust his arm straight at Jack's neck and held on tight. As Daniel lifted Jack up off the floor and slammed him against the wall, Jack cried out, grabbed Daniel's arm and fought for breath. He kicked out with his left leg, hoping to hit something. He caught Daniel's knee, but not hard enough to stop him. Daniel threw Jack across the kitchen, into the cabinet. Jack hit the glass hard enough for it to smash. His vision was blurred and he was as dizzy as hell. He tried to think. He had to call Carter; he had to warn her. As he tried to get up, he felt the impact of Daniel's fists on his back, and lost consciousness.

The following morning, Sam knocked on the open door of General Hammond's office. He looked up. "Ah, Major Carter, come in please, have a seat."

"Is everything alright, sir? Your call sounded urgent."

"It was. Last night, about half an hour after you left, Doctor Fraiser discovered that Doctor Jackson had left his bed in the infirmary. She thought nothing of it… until this morning. He still hasn't come back and we can't find him anywhere on the base. He isn't answering his home phone or his cell phone, neither is Colonel O'Neill. I've called Teal'c back from visiting his family. He doesn't know about the situation yet but I don't want to waste time but explaining it twice. I want you and him to go over to the colonel's house and see if you can find out what's going on."

Sam stood up, "Yes sir." She turned and walked out of the office. She met Teal'c just outside and explained what was going on as they left the mountain and got into her car.

The ride to Jack's house was a very silent one. Teal'c obviously isn't one for Smalltalk, Sam figured. She pulled the car up by the side of Jack's house. The two friends stepped out of the car, and made their way through the garden up to the front door. Sam knocked and waited. No answer. After a few seconds, she tried again. Still no answer. "This is indeed strange, Major Carter," Teal'c suggested, "O'Neill's vehicle is here." Great, Sam thought. Teal'c's stating the obvious as usual. Sam made her way around to the side of the house. Something strange was definitely going on and she didn't like it. She put her face up to the window and tried to look in. It didn't work. There wasn't enough light on the inside of the house. Teal'c wandered around the back of the house. "Major Carter!" he shouted. Sam ran to see what Teal'c had found. The back door was ajar. Sam stepped cautiously forward and pushed the door open slowly. The house was eerily silent. There were no lights on and a cold breeze blew around the room due to the open door. Sam waved her hand over at Teal'c, instructing him to keep a watch outside while she explored the house. Teal'c left by the back door and Sam stepped cautiously forward, and turned on the light, stopping suddenly as she took in the state of the living room.

The floor was a mass of shattered glass, covered in dark red blood. The chessboard and pieces were scattered across the room, and there were several broken beer bottles dotted around. Sam took one step into the room, immediately seeing the source of the blood. Jack was led face down by the side of the sofa, a small puddle of blood by his head. Sam ran into the room towards him, and began looking for a cut or gash, but was stopped by the sound of a gun shot outside. Teal'c must have found something, she thought. She left Jack reluctantly and ran towards the backdoor, quickly but silently to join her friend.

Sam grabbed the doorframe to steady herself and swing out of the back of the house. She was stopped abruptly, as she found herself staring straight down the barrel of Daniel's gun. Behind him she could see Teal'c lying face down in the garden, blood over his right shoulder from a shot wound. Sam looked Daniel straight in the eye. "Daniel?" He stared back at her, his eyes cold. He made no answer, but walked straight towards Sam, so that she had no choice but to walk backwards into the house. "Daniel, what are you doing?" Still Daniel made no answer. Sam walked back through to the living room, always watching Daniel, looking for a reason, some explanation for what he was doing.

She was interrupted by a glimpse of Teal'c in the corner of her eye. She averted her eyes back to Daniel. As Teal'c raised his zat, ready to shoot, the pain of his wound registered on his face and he fired the zat at Daniel, before he fell to the floor, clutching his injured shoulder.


	5. Rescue

The zat blast had caught Daniel somewhat off-guard, and as his body tensed up with pain, he sank to the floor, close to where Jack lay. The light that Sam had first seen when L'Anya healed Daniel filled the room again, brighter this time it seemed, and Sam shielded her eyes. As the light dispersed, a groan from Jack alerted Sam, and she knelt down to help him as he got his bearings.

"Uh… What the hell happened?" Jack groaned, obviously not very pleased about the bloodstains all over his carpet.

"Daniel's a Goa'uld," she answered, "he shot Teal'c but Teal'c managed to zat Daniel. We need to get them back to the SCG. Can you walk?"

Jack slowly got up onto his knees, with Sam's help, pain suddenly rushing through his body. He saw Daniel on the floor next to him, and registered what Sam had just told him.

"Where's Teal'c?"

"I am here, O'Neill." Sam looked over to Teal'c, who was slowly managing to stand up.

"Teal'c, can you help the colonel outside to the jeep?"

"I'm not an invalid, Carter," Jack retorted, trying to stand up. Realizing it was a bad idea and that help from Teal'c would probably be a good idea, he let himself fall back onto the sofa. Grabbing his head with both hands, he felt pain again rushing through his temples and tried to recall what had happened. _There was beer. Lots of beer. _He thought._ Something about cheese…? No, that's not it. Oh my head hurts._ Jack gave up thinking as he felt Teal'c's left arm reach around his back and pull him up. Jack kept his head down, one hand still gripping it, the other around Teal'c for support. As Teal'c carried Jack out of the door, Sam made sure they could manage, and went back for Daniel.

Sam pulled Daniel up over her own shoulder, and carried him out of the house. She closed the door behind her, for what difference it would make given the state of the back of the house, and made her way to the jeep. She unhooked Daniel's arms from around her shoulders and put him in the back next to a very grumpy Jack. Teal'c had taken his usual place up front, and Sam closed the back door and made her way around to the driver's seat. She closed the door, took out her phone and dialed. After a few seconds she spoke.

"This is Major Carter. I have Colonel O'Neill and Doctor Jackson with me. Have a med. team on standby, we'll be there in five minutes." Sam ended the call and sped down the road to the SGC.


	6. Revenge?

"Daniel?… Daniel? Can you hear me?" Janet's voice interrupted Daniel's dreamless sleep and he opened his eyes, trying to figure out where he was. The ceiling looked very familiar. _The infirmary. Great. What the hell happened to me this time?_

"Daniel?" Janet spoke again.

"Hm?" was all he could manage for the moment. He strained to look at Janet but felt her hand stop him.

"Try not to move. I still need to run more tests to make sure you're alright after the state of the rest of SG-1. How are you feeling?"

"Um… okay," he managed, "maybe a little groggy. What happened?"

"I was hoping you could tell me. Sam said you were a Goa'uld. There's what looks like an entry wound on your neck but other than that I can't find anything. I've run an MRI, nothing is showing up. No Goa'uld, no protein marker, nothing. Do you remember _anything_?"

Daniel closed his eyes, willing memories to come forward. "We were on a mission… PJ5 483 I think. We met a woman. What was her name?" he tried to remember, "L'Anya, that's it. We brought her back through the gate. That's the last I remember."

"You don't remember going back to Colonel O'Neill's house yesterday?"

Daniel frowned. "Doesn't ring a bell…"

"He said you turned up sometime around four-thirty. You had a couple of beers. He doesn't remember anything else." She paused, uncertain whether to continue. After a few seconds she spoke again. "I've treated the colonel for a concussion, and Teal'c for a shot wound… Sam says you were holding the gun."

Daniel's expression was blank. "I'm sorry… I don't remember."

Janet thought about his response. If Daniel said he didn't remember then he didn't remember. She trusted him. "Okay, well I want you to stay here for a while until I can declare you fit for duty." She put one hand on his shoulder and smiled before leaving for her office.

Daniel closed his eyes. Sleep seemed like a good idea, and Lord knows he's had more than his fair share of all-nighters in the past few months. Maybe his memory would return and he could shed some light on the situation after a bit of shut-eye.

Daniel awoke shortly after to the sound of soft footsteps. "Hello?" he asked. No answer. His curiosity was soon satisfied as Jack's face appeared over him, smiling a slanted smile, making him look even more stupid to Daniel than the large plaster fixed to his forehead made him look.

"Hey," Jack offered.

Daniel blinked softly, "Hey."

There followed a long silence, both men searching for something to say. Jack rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet, hands in pockets, while Daniel continued to stare at the ceiling. Eventually, Jack spoke.

"You look like Hell"

Daniel smiled, his eyes once again closed "Thanks, not so bad yourself." Jack smiled and once again there was silence. Jack decided that now would be a good time to leave and walked across the infirmary towards the door.

"Night-night sleeping beauty," he whispered. Daniel half laughed and adjusted his head on the pillow to get more comfortable. Jack got to the door and suddenly stopped. He turned back to Daniel and walked slowly towards his bed. As he passed a medical trolley he grasped a syringe and concealed it behind his back. As he neared Daniel's bed, Daniel opened his eyes and looked over at Jack.

"Back so soon?" he joked. Jack didn't answer. Instead he stared straight back at Daniel. "Jack? You okay?" Daniel strained to sit up as he spoke. He reached out a hand towards his friend, only to be stopped by Jack's own hand grabbing Daniel's throat, forcing him back sharply and painfully against the wall. Daniel grabbed Jack's wrist with his own hands, his strength not enough to release the grip that prevented him breathing. As Jack held tighter, he swiftly brought his other hand from behind his back and jammed the needle into Daniel's shoulder, causing him to scream in pain as the cold metal pierced his skin, his cries choked out by Jack's grasp. As Daniel became drowsy Jack released his grip and Daniel lunged forward as far as he could. His vision became blurry and he couldn't think straight. Jack evaded Daniel's arms and calmly stepped backwards, watching Daniel fight the drug. Daniel felt his eyes closing rapidly, "You stupid son of a…" his words died as his body went limp and he collapsed onto the bed. Jack walked out of the infirmary, his eyes glowing.


	7. Secrets

__

He is weak. All Tau'ri are weak. We will easily defeat their race and take their pathetic planet for our own amusement.

Sam had spent the last half an hour attempting to continue her book on Wormhole Physics, but fatigue had got the best of her and the screensaver had long ago appeared. She gave up and shut down her laptop, staring at the screen and pressing random buttons in an attempt to stay awake for no reason. A knock on her lab door jerked her back to reality and she rubbed her tired eyes. "Come in." The door slowly opened and Jack's head appeared around it.

"Wat'cha doin'?"

"Oh, hey sir," Sam laughed, "I was gonna go home, get some sleep while it's at least temporarily uneventful around here." She stood up.

"Well I'm gonna go see how Daniel's doing. I don't think he's had too many visitors today."

"Oh, good idea. Gimme a couple of minutes and I'll come with you," Sam replied, tidying up a pile of disorganised papers. She walked over to the door. "I feel kinda guilty, actually. I haven't been to see him since we got back."

"Ah, I wouldn't worry. He probably doesn't notice any visitors. If you ask me, he spends _way _too much time in the infirmary."

Sam laughed. "You know something I don't, sir?"

"Well I don't like to point fingers but I'd tell Fraiser to watch out for a frisky archaeologist."

"Janet? You think he's after Janet?"

Jack held up his hand, a smile playing on his face that told everything. "I'm not saying anything. Forget I mentioned it." He walked out of the lab slowly and Sam picked up a half cup of cold coffee and went to catch up.

"No way! I wanna know what Daniel's been telling you!"

"He hasn't been telling me anything. Neither has Fraiser, actually, but you're funny when you get annoyed."

Sam made evil eyes at Jack. "I don't believe you!" she accused.

"Fine then, don't. I don't care." _This is it,_ thought Jack. _She's breaking!_ He walked faster so he was a little ahead of Sam. _Here it comes…_

Sam caught up and grabbed his arm. "Right that's it I wanna know who…" She suddenly stopped and stepped backwards.

"Carter? What's up?" Jack looked confused. Sam turned and ran down the corridor, the cup of coffee falling and smashing on the way. She ran back into her lab. Jack followed Sam cautiously and stood outside the closed door. He pushed it open, and was greeted by a frightened Sam, holding a Zat up in his direction. Jack held a hand up. "Hey, Carter. Don't be stupid." Sam's focus stayed on Jack as she moved over to the intercom phone. Jack watched, and his face suddenly changed. He dived on the floor, aiming for Sam's feet. She lost her balance and fell backwards into a trolley, hitting her head on a low shelf. The Zat flew out of her hand and skidded across the floor. As Sam struggled to regain focus and get up, Jack walked calmly across the room and picked up the weapon. He walked back to the door and leaned against the wall, watching as Sam grabbed at anything for stability. She got a grip on the desk and attempted to pull herself up. As the room seemed to spin around her, she looked straight at Jack through half-closed eyelids. Jack raised the Zat, his eyes flashed and Sam took a last chance and propelled herself across the room, stopped by the sudden burst of energy from the Zat.

Sam fell face down on the floor, her body twitching from the blast. Jack hid the Zat in his waistband and walked over to Sam. Rolling her unconscious body over, he took a set of keys out of her pocket and dragged the intercom phone off the wall, and out of the socket. He left the lab, locking the door behind him.


	8. Discovery

Apart from the initial rush of SG-1 that morning, the infirmary had been very quiet all day. Janet had taken this opportunity to catch up on her paperwork that had slowly been building up over the past week, and she was thankful for the chance. Her working time hadn't been interrupted at all for health purposes, except to check up on Daniel, who had been fast asleep all morning.

__

Fast asleep.

All Morning…

That wasn't like Daniel, Janet had thought, but she had left him to it. It was only when the alarms for Gate activation had gone off, and Daniel didn't even stir, that she realised something was wrong.

What she discovered worried her. 

It worried her a lot.

***

It had been a very quiet day for Hammond, also. Only three teams were currently off world, and SG-3 had just returned on schedule. SG teams 6 and 10 were not due back for another 48 hours, and no one was due for a mission until early tomorrow. As a result, Hammond had quite a lot of free time on his hands and had been on the 'phone to Tessa and Kayla for the past forty minutes. They were glad to hear from him, as they hadn't seen, or spoken to, their Granddad for a few weeks. 

Hammond put the 'phone down and smiled. He was glad to have spoken to the girls, and was happy that he still had an impact on their lives, despite being away from them so often for so long.

There was a knock on the door and Hammond sat up. He had barely said, "Come in," when the door burst open and Janet hurried through. "Doctor Fraiser. What can I do for you?"

"General, I'm sorry to burst in, but I've just run a bloodscreen on Daniel and the results were… disturbing."

"What is it, Doctor?" he asked, getting worried, "Is he okay?"

"He's going to be fine, sir. Don't worry. It's Colonel O'Neill I'm worried about."

"But I thought you said…"

"Sir," she interrupted, "there's a large amount of anaesthetic showing up in Daniel's blood. I didn't sedate him, and the only visitor he's had today… is the colonel."

Hammond looked shocked. "Are you telling me that Colonel O'Neill…"

"No sir. I told you I had found what looked like a Goa'uld entry mark on Daniel's neck when he came in this morning, but there was no evidence that the symbiote was still there…" she paused. Taking a deep breath she continued, "Given that Colonel O'Neill was the only visitor today, and the results of the blood test, we have to consider the possibility that the symbiote has switched hosts…"

"And is now in the colonel." Hammond presumed, completing her sentence and confirming what he had feared since Janet had said the Goa'uld had left Daniel's body. Janet nodded slowly. Hammond stood up, not sure what to do next. "Do you know where the colonel is now?"

"I'm sorry sir," she replied, "I haven't seen him since this morning… he was acting strange. I'm so sorry I should have seen it, sir."

"It's okay, Doctor, you couldn't possibly have known what was going on. The important thing is that we find the colonel now."

Hammond got up to walk out, but Janet stopped him. "Sir, there's more." Hammond turned back. "I have no idea how or why, but this Goa'uld seems to be… different."

"How do you mean, Doctor?"

"Well sir, I told you there was no protein marker left over when the Goa'uld left Daniel's body, but there was absolutely no evidence that it was even in there, apart from the entry wound which would heal anyway. The symbiote does have the ability to kill the host before it finds another, but luckily for us it decided to leave Daniel alive. We ran an autopsy no the woman who came back with SG-1. She was Jaffa. It's a good guess that she had carried her larval Goa'uld to the point of maturity, and that's when she came here."

"But she died. Presumably when the symbiote left her?"

"As you know, the symbiote acts as the immune system of the Jaffa who carries it, I would say that's why she died, but that doesn't explain why it left Daniel unharmed. I think it's up to something"

Hammond was getting increasingly concerned. "Let's just hope this symbiote feels like leaving the colonel the same way it left Doctor Jackson: Alive."

"Yes sir," Janet replied. The two left Hammond's office and were greeted by Teal'c.

"General Hammond, Doctor Fraiser."

"Teal'c," Hammond replied, "Have you seen Colonel O'Neill?"

Teal'c nodded. "Indeed I have, General. O'Neill informed me that he was looking for Major Carter. I told him that she was in her lab. He then went to find her."

Janet tore away to the elevator, closely followed by Hammond as he explained to Teal'c what was going on.


	9. Confrontation!

Sam awoke to a splitting headache and a sore neck, although she had no idea how either had got there. She rolled over onto her side and stood up. She stumbled to the door and turned the handle. Locked. She reached into her pocket for the keys, but came out empty handed. She tried the handle again, this time pulling harder, but the door was locked solid. Sam began banging on the door and shouting, "Hello?" There was no answer. Sam banged on the door even harder until she heard her own name being called from the other side.

"Sam?"

"Janet!" Sam yelled back, "Is that you?" Sam saw the door handle move.

"Yeah, Sam, it's me. Are you okay? The door's locked."

"Yeah, I know. I don't have my key though. I can't get out!"

Hammond stepped forward. "Major, stand back from the door, we're going to try to break it down." After hearing the all clear from Sam, he nodded at Teal'c. Teal'c kicked the door near the lock, but to no avail. Twice more, and the door began to rattle. A fourth kick brought the door swinging violently back on its hinges. Janet ran into the lab.

"Sam, are you okay?"

"Uh… I think so. I got a headache but that's all. What happened?"

"You don't remember?" Janet asked as she moved to inspect Sam's head. She paused. "We think Colonel O'Neill's a Goa'uld." Sam's eyes widened as memories suddenly raced back.

"Oh my God! Daniel! He said he was going to see Daniel!" Sam pulled herself forward, only to be stopped by Janet.

"It's okay. Daniel's going to be fine. He's just been sedated, that's all. Sam, there's a lot of blood here," she continued, looking at Sam's head, "we'd better get you to the infirmary."

Sam held on to Janet's shoulder and with her help made it across to the door. She looked up to see Jack stood behind Hammond, a repulsive sneer across his face as he lifted his Zat and pointed it at the back of Hammond's head.

"General!" Sam yelled. Hammond spun around and fell to the ground as the electricity rushed through his body. Teal'c lunged at Jack, pushing him to the ground. Jack punched Teal'c in the ribs, and then again in the face. Teal'c stumbled backwards in to the wall, and Jack sprung up and flew at him. The two men fell onto the floor and Jack landed another punch in Teal'c's face. Teal'c fought to push Jack up and Janet and a still disoriented Sam grabbed Jack from behind and pulled him up. Teal'c rolled over and grabbed Jack's Zat which had fallen during their struggle. Jack threw his arms back to hit both women simultaneously and, seeing the Zat, manoeuvered backwards as Teal'c fired a shot that missed Jack and hit the wall. Janet struggled to stand up and landed a blow in the back on Jack's knee that sent him tumbling backwards. Janet threw herself over Jack and, with Sam's help, held his arms down. Jack resisted for a few seconds. Suddenly, his body went limp and, for the third time in two days, Sam saw the blinding light fill the corridor. As Sam and Janet shielded their eyes, Teal'c pointed the Zat in Jack's direction and fired an educated guess at his position. The light faded and Teal'c saw that his guess had been correct. He moved over to help Sam and Janet move Jack's unconscious form to the infirmary, whilst two passing SFs helped the General up.

A/N: Sorry this chapter took so long to post. Hope you like it. Please please please review


	10. All Change

It wasn't very often that the whole of SG-1 occupied the infirmary at any one time. Today, however, was an exception. Daniel was still out from the anaesthetic, Jack was unconscious and restrained and only Sam and Teal'c were awake. Teal'c had stayed fairly still all afternoon, but Sam was restless. Since coming into the infirmary she had suddenly felt very awake and no amount of rest was sending her to sleep. She didn't like lying around when she felt perfectly fine. Sam got up off the bed and made her way over to Janet's office. Knocking on the door, she opened it and waked in. Janet looked up from the desk where she was sitting, "Hey, Sam. How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine. In fact I'm better than fine," she hesitated, "you know, Janet, I'd really like to get back to work…" Sam turned quickly to leave but was stopped by an annoyed voice owned by Janet.

"Sam, you know you should be resting, I'm not having you back in here in half an hour strained from exhaustion. I want you resting for at the very least the next couple of hours."

"Janet…"

"Sam," Janet interrupted in a stern tone, "Doctor's orders." Sam let out a defeated sigh and began walking back into the infirmary. Stopping suddenly, she turned back.

"Please, Janet. I feel perfectly fine." Janet got up and stood face-to-face with Sam.

"That may well be the case, Sam, but whether or not you _are_ fine is for me to determine as your doctor," Janet softened her tone, "please, Sam just for a couple of hours." Sam hovered for a few seconds before walking slowly back to the infirmary, muttering to herself that she was fine and there was no point in her being here.

"Are you well, Major Carter?" Teal'c asked as an annoyed Sam walked past the foot of the bed. When Sam made no answer, Teal'c simply disregarded it with a raised eyebrow, before closing his eyes to rest. Sam paced about the infirmary for little more than ten seconds before slamming her hand down on a nearby desk and charging back into Janet's office.

The crash of the door made Janet jump up from her seat. She didn't need to look who it was. She could tell Sam was agitated and it was only a matter of time before she took action. Janet took a deep breath. This was going to take some doing. She looked up. "Sam, "she stated simply, "I told you I…" but what she saw wasn't her friend. Sam wasn't annoyed: she was terrifying… murderous. Staring straight at Janet, Sam advanced towards her. As Sam got closer, Janet noticed the glow in her eyes and stepped backwards as Sam came closer. Janet pulled her gun from the desk and pointed it at Sam. Her hands shook as a finger hovered by the trigger. "Sam, fight it!" she tried, but to no avail. Sam waved her hand, knocking the gun out of Janet's hand. Her elbow made contact with Janet's jaw and sent her tumbling backward into the wall. 

The initial thump on Janet's head sent her dizzy for a moment, before she regained focus to block the next blow from Sam, this time aimed at Janet's face. The fact that Janet had avoided the punch seemed to anger Sam and she grabbed Janet's wrists and forced them back, before swinging back and landing a punch in her stomach. As Janet doubled over from being winded, Sam raised her arms and landed a final blow on Janet's back. Janet collapsed to the floor and Sam seemed a little happier. She dragged Janet behind her desk, out of sight and left the office. Closing the door and pulling the handle off, she walked back the way she had come.

As Sam came towards the infirmary, a sudden wave of dizziness came over her, and she fell to the wall. Regaining her balance, she continued on, suddenly finding a missing block of her memory. She dismissed it as fatigue and upon passing Teal'c, she looked up at him. "Janet says it's okay to go, Teal'c. I'll see your tomorrow." She walked straight past him and out of the infirmary. Teal'c stayed sat on the bed for a while, before leaving the infirmary himself, going back to his quarters to perform kel'no'reem.


	11. Wrongly Accused

__

Dizzy. Disorientated. Confused.

The feeling that came over Daniel as he woke up was not one that he particularly enjoyed. His back and neck hurt and he couldn't focus. His lack of glasses didn't help much in the matter. He closed his eyes and scrunched up his face. Reopening his eyes now gave him a better idea of where he was and he strained to look around, though his limbs weren't quite responding as they should yet. His whole body felt weak and he didn't like it one bit. 

After a few minutes the feeling began returning to his upper body, then his arms, legs and eventually he could move. Rolling over onto his side, he felt for the floor with his foot and managed to stand up. He still felt a bit queasy a decided it was better to sit back on the bed. As he sat back he heard a crunch and realised that he had found his glasses. He picked them up off the bed and put them on. Apart from a large crack across the left lens they seemed to be all right. 

Daniel took a look around. The infirmary was deserted, save for himself and Jack, on the next bed, tied down for reasons that escaped Daniel for the time being. He looked up at the clock. It was six a.m. Daniel slowly got up and wandered over to where Jack lay. The older man was still asleep but began stirring when Daniel got closer.

"Jack?" Daniel queried. Jack groaned and opened his eyes. He looked up at the face of the man in white staring down at him. He forced a laugh.

"Daniel?" he answered back. Daniel sighed, "My guardian angel," Jack added

"Yeah… what the hell happened to you?" Jack frowned at the response.

"Whaddaya mean what the hell happened…" Jack stopped short when he tried to sit up and realised that his arms were tied down at the wrists, as well as his legs by the ankles. "Oh… right," he paused and lowered his voice to a whisper, "listen, you see the Doc? I really gotta pee." Daniel smirked at Jack.

"No. I haven't seen her, Jack." Daniel stepped forward and began to undo one of the buckles that held down Jack's arm, but he soon thought better of it. "Jack I have no idea why you're restrained… and anyway I think it'll do you some good."

"What's _that _supposed to mean?" Jack's voice grew louder.

"Nothing," Daniel answered innocently, "I'm just suggesting you need a little… rest." Daniel stifled a giggle when he spoke and decided that now would be a good time to leave. He stood up.

"Oh no you don't!" Jack yelled. As Daniel walked to the door Jack's voice grew insistent. "Come back here Daniel! Hey!" Daniel left the infirmary and couldn't help but let out the laugh that had been building up. He wasn't really that cruel. He walked down the corridor towards Janet's office and raised his hand to knock. He stopped short when he realised that there was no handle and the door. It looked as though it had been ripped off with great strength. It was only then that Daniel remembered what had happened. 

__

A fight… with Jack? 

Daniel looked through the office window and saw two feet. The desk obstructed his view of the rest of the person but he had a pretty good idea who it was. He quickly went back to the door and ran sideways into it, wincing at the pain that shot through his shoulder. The door flew open and Daniel ran in. His suspicions were confirmed as he knelt beside Janet and checked for a pulse, finding one to his comfort. It was only then that Daniel put two and two together and realised what had gone on. 

__

He must have attacked her and then come after me…

As luck would have it, Daniel caught sight of a nurse just outside the office. He got up and ran out of the room, grabbing the nurse's shoulder. She jumped at the contact and spun around. Daniel began speaking, "Doctor Fraiser's been attacked. Can you help her out please I have to do something." The nurse nodded and quickly followed Daniel's gesture to the office. Daniel ran back to the infirmary. A very irate Jack greeted him.

"_Finally_!"he said sarcastically, "would you mind finishing this?" he nodded his head towards the straps around his arms. Daniel got closer and started to tighten the bond that he had loosened before. Jack protested, "What the hell are you doing, Daniel?" he yelled. Jack tried to force his arms free but Daniel had done a good job.

"It's for your own good, Jack," he mumbled, before turning to walk away. Jack continued to shout in protest at Daniel as he walked away to find the General. On his way out of the infirmary he passed Sam. "Hey, Sam, could you keep an eye on Jack for me while I find the General?" he pointed back the way he had come.

"Sure, why?" she asked. Daniel continued on.

"No time to explain, I'll be back soon." He shouted. Sam shrugged and walked into the infirmary. Disorientation flooded over her again, and she stopped. Upon regaining control, she continued into the infirmary. Jack saw her coming in and smiled.

"Hey, Carter! Help me outta these will ya?" he pleaded. Sam leaned against the doorframe and stared at Jack. He tried again, "Aw, c'mon!" Sam smiled an evil smile that disturbed Jack somewhat. He looked back awaiting her help and felt relieved when she moved forward from her space by the door.

But his relief didn't last long, as he saw the glow in her eyes as she came closer. "Oh… crap!" Jack made a futile attempt to break free, cursing Daniel upon failure. Sam was too close for comfort by now, and Jack made a final attempt to save himself by doing the only thing he could. Taking a quick, deep breath he yelled;

"DANIEL!!"

But no answer came.

A/N: Please please please review!! (I'm not above begging!!)


	12. Search

When Alexa and another on-duty nurse - Adam - brought Janet through to the infirmary and placed her on a vacant bed, they didn't notice the empty bed, with undone straps and bloodstained covers. They were too busy attending to Janet to think anything of it. They were only disrupted by the sound of rapid footsteps approaching. Alexa looked around to see Daniel dashing in, followed by the General.

"Where is he?" asked Hammond, worried. Daniel stopped short of the bed and looked around hastily, before spotting Alexa and Adam.

"Alexa!" he said, a little out of breath, "have you seen Colonel O'Neill?"

Alexa looked confused. "No, sorry," she answered simply. She hadn't heard anything about what had happened. "Are you okay, Daniel?" Daniel didn't answer. He had spotted the blood on the bed and was following a faint trail across the floor. He left the infirmary in a hurry. Hammond stayed behind, a look of concern on his face for the woman lying on the bed.

"What happened?" he asked. Adam answered.

"We're not sure, sir. She has a broken arm, a concussion and possibly a broken rib, but we can't be sure just yet. We have no idea what happened." Hammond sighed and took the opportunity to fill them in.

***

The thoughts and feelings that went through Daniel's mind were a mixture of concern for Jack, and worry for whoever he might have found. The corridors seemed somewhat darker to him than usual, and in his mind he found himself wondering where the blood had come from. He hadn't noticed any open wounds on Jack when they had spoken. It suddenly struck him that he could very possibly have seriously attacked someone. Someone who had made the mistake he almost did of letting Jack out of his restraints. He continued, picking up speed as he moved hastily towards the Gate room. 

Daniel ran into the deserted room, the cold stone floor nipping at his bare feet. He looked up towards the control room. Catching sight of Sam he continued towards the door to join her, but was stopped by the door suddenly closing. He tried to run out of the room but was too late, and ran into the door. The control pad to open the door wouldn't respond. Daniel ran back and looked up at Sam. She was doing something at the computer and didn't see him. He stepped further back and waved his arms up, yelling, "Sam!" Sam looked through the window and saw him. Her face held a blank expression for a few seconds, before she looked back down at whatever she was doing. Daniel waved again. "Sam!" he tried again, "the door's closed!" Sam looked up again, straight at Daniel and he pointed towards the locked door. Sam looked at the direction in which Daniel was pointing. She moved across to another control panel and entered a command. She then leaned across to the window and watched Daniel.

Daniel had walked over to the door in anticipation of its opening, but nothing happened. He looked up, once again, at Sam. She was watching him with a sinister smirk slowly spreading across her face. Daniel lifted his arms up in question at her, before suddenly finding himself short of breath. His throat went dry and his lungs felt as though they were on fire. He ran to the door that he had come through, only to find it had also been firmly shut. Daniel clenched his fists and fell to the floor, gasping for oxygen that wasn't there. He led on his side, his whole body seizing up as he fought for air. His face turned a pale blue colour, seemingly dark against the bleached white scrubs he wore. In his pain and desperation he took a final look up at the control room, hoping for a chance. The last thing he saw was a satisfied look on Sam's face, before the pain became too intense, his eyes lost focus, and blackness engulfed him.


	13. Confirmed Suspicion

Jack looked up at the face before him through half-closed eyelids. What he saw was his second in command: his friend. But this wasn't her. This wasn't the friend he knew so well. This wasn't Carter. This was an impostor, and no matter how much he hated the Goa'uld, there was a part of Jack that couldn't do anything, because this particular one had the face of his friend, and for that he hated them even more.

Through his current semi-conscious state Jack had recognised the control room and the closed doors at the far end. Three people he couldn't make out looked as though they had been shot down and were in various places about the floor. He could hear faint noises from the other side of the door behind him, possibly voices, but they seemed too far away for him to hear specific words. Sam had locked all the doors in the base and the closest anyone could get was outside the control room, in the corridor by the Gate room.

Sam stood up again and made her way back to the computer. Jack watched her as the blast doors closed, and tried to stand up. The thump he made, as he quickly slumped back to the floor in defeat, made Sam look back in his direction and she walked back, kneeling in front of him. She grabbed his face and pulled it towards her own. She spoke, but not in the voice that Jack was so used to hearing. It was the Goa'uld: the impostor. "You are weak. You were a weak host. This one is much stronger." Jack's eyes flickered shut as she spoke, and she jolted his head forward, waking him up with the pain that shot down his neck. He winced at the feeling and once again he focused on Sam, her eyes boring into his face with every second. "This one has a strong mind. I have not yet been able to break through to the information I need, but all Tau'ri are weak when compared to the Goa'uld. I will break through, it is only a matter of time." She threw his head back and stared at him for a few seconds longer. Jack's head was aching and he couldn't move.

"What the hell… did you do to me?" he managed between breaths. Sam smirked and brought up a syringe into Jack's view.

"It's amazing what effect your medical solutions can have when mixed with a small amount of nishta." Her face became serious as she inspected the liquid still in the syringe, "I have no idea what further effect this will have, though I suspect it would probably kill you." She looked back at Jack's face and lowered her voice to almost a whisper, "I should warn you I will take great pleasure in administering this to you should you become, shall we say, uncooperative." Jack swallowed hard. He hated to be like this, without defence and powerless to stop one Goa'uld after he had helped defeat many others with much more power. _It's not Carter. It's not Carter, _he kept telling himself.

"What do you want?" he finally asked. Sam smiled a dominant smile and stood again. 

"You will learn, in time, Tau'ri. As for now I suggest you sleep. You will require your strength soon enough." With that, she took out another needle and injected Jack's left arm. He passed out with a fight before he had chance to protest. Sam then picked up a Zat from the side, stood back, pointed it at Jack and disabled the lock on the door. The door opened to reveal Teal'c, his Zat raised ready to shoot. Hammond and four SFs were behind him. Teal'c gave Sam a sceptical look.

"Major Carter?" he asked

"It's okay," she replied, "I stopped him." Teal'c looked down at Jack laying on the floor, and back up at Sam as the SFs pulled Jack, and the others who had been shot down, up from the floor and began to carry them out of the control room, followed by Hammond. This Goa'uld wasn't going to fool them again.

"Where is Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c asked. Sam lowered the Zat.

"I haven't seen him. Should I have?" She replied, shrugging it off. Teal'c walked through to Sam.

"He came this way in pursuit of O'Neill."

"Well I haven't seen him. He hasn't been here." She stated simply. She brushed past Teal'c on her way out of the control room.

"Major Carter. Stop where you are." Sam halted at the command. "Turn around slowly." Sam did just that, a hostile smirk on her face. Teal'c kept his Zat trained on Sam and held out his left hand. "Give me the Zat'n'ktel." Sam raised an eyebrow.

"Are you sure about that?"

"Give it to me," he said, his tone unchanged, "I will not hesitate to shoot you."

In one swift movement Sam brought up the Zat and shot Teal'c before he had chance to react. He fell to the floor and Sam grabbed hold of his arms. She dragged him around the corner out of sight, and went back in to the control room. She walked with purpose to the computer, turned the oxygen in the Gate room back up to normal level and walked through the now open door. 

She had already lost one bargaining chip. She wasn't going to lose another.

A/N: Hope you like it. Please review!! I'm trying to work on longer chapters at the moment, as far as time will allow. Apologies to the Danny fans for chapter 12, I was miffed off. Apologies to Jack fans for chapter 13. I was in an evil mood. Alexa got me back for 12 though (you evil evil girl!) in her fic, which any Blue fan should read coz it's great! It's called The Loss by Pheonix Lioncourt and it rules!!


	14. Hallucinations, Capture and Escape

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At first she had wanted him out of the way. Now, if she had any chance of succeeding in her mission, she needed him alive. It was a problem, of course, but problems were made to be overcome, just as rules were made to be broken. This caused a minor setback in her plans, but the Tau'ri would know that soon enough. They would pay with their lives. It should not have taken this long.

***

As Jack opened his eyes his vision was filled with the faint picture of a familiar face. The face smiled and Jack reached out his arms. "Charlie?" Charlie sat down next to Jack and held onto his hand.

"Hey Dad," He replied. Jack sat up and threw his arms around his son. He held him close and Charlie hugged back. A stray tear escaped Jack's eye as he held on tight. But suddenly the atmosphere changed. Jack felt something was wrong. He thought Charlie must have felt it too, as the boy broke the hug and looked up at Jack. "What's wrong, Dad?" Jack threw his head down and covered his face with his hands. He muttered to himself.

"No. This isn't right. Not right." Charlie reached up and pulled Jack's arms down from his face.

"What do you mean?" he paused as Jack regarded him with puzzlement, "you mean I'm supposed to be dead? That I'm supposed to have killed myself?" Charlie held onto his father's arms tighter.

"No!" Jack protested.

"That was your fault. Your gun. Your fault. You shouldn't have left it lying around. If you hadn't I would still be alive. I was just a child. You were never there for me and you never told me where you were. You killed me!" Jack pulled his arms back and curled himself into a ball. He didn't need this.

"It's true, Jack," a female voice broke through to him. He looked up to see his wife.

"Sara?… No. Not right!"

"You killed him, Jack," Sara walked over to Charlie and put her hands on his shoulders. "Your gun, your fault."

"Your fault Dad."

"Your gun Jack!"

The images of his wife and son filled Jack's head and he let out a cry.

"Colonel? Colonel!" Jack screwed up his eyes, "No! It's not real! Not real!"

"Colonel!" Jack woke up sweating. Alexa stood beside him, holding him down while he got his bearings. "Colonel, are you okay?"

"Charlie," he muttered.

"It was a dream, you're alright now. You were just dreaming," she explained

"No, it wasn't a dream… it was too vivid. Too real," Jack calmed and closed his eyes. "Too real…"

Alexa smiled sympathetically and checked Jack's vitals. Hammond was stood behind her. "Is he okay?" he asked. Alexa sighed.

"I'm not sure, sir. There's a chemical I can't identify in his blood. It could be the cause of his dreams or hallucinations. I'm not sure which they are," she hesitated and took a deep breath before continuing, "sir, there's another thing. There's no sign of the Goa'uld in the colonel's body."

"Where is it?" Hammond asked, as though expecting Alexa to have the answer, but he knew what would be said.

"I'm afraid I don't know, but the only other people in the control room when we found him were Teal'c and Major Carter."

"And a Goa'uld can't take a Jaffa as a host," Hammond jumped in, "which means that the Goa'uld is now in Major Carter?" Alexa nodded

"There's a good chance, sir."

"Stay here and keep an eye on things. I'll sort it out." He noticed the worried look on Alexa's face, "Don't worry," he comforted her, "I'll make sure Major Carter will be okay." Alexa nodded and smiled. Hammond walked away. _At least I hope she'll be okay,_ he thought.

***

Sam had made her way into the Gate room and over to Daniel. She felt for a pulse and found a weak one. _There is still time,_ she thought. Kneeling down beside him she leaned in close. She closed her eyes as the symbiote uncoiled from her spine and leaped out of her neck, into Daniel's previous entry wound. Almost immediately he woke with glowing eyes and forced the air into his lungs. Sam felt as though something hit her and she jolted up before looking down at her friend. "Daniel?" Daniel's eyes darted from the ceiling to Sam. They were cold and full of fury. Daniel thrust his arm forward and grabbed Sam's neck before she had chance to pull away. He sat up and held onto her arm with his other hand. Sam's remaining hand was working on breaking free, but Daniel was too strong. He pulled her towards him, a yell escaped from somewhere inside Sam as the symbiote left Daniel and once again burrowed into Sam's neck. Daniel took a sudden, deep breath and swallowed hard. He looked up at Sam. She rolled her head back and then met Daniel's gaze. His look changed to a wary one and he edged backwards across the floor. Sam leapt forward and grabbed Daniel by the arm. She dragged him back and pulled out the needle she had used on Jack first: the one she had informed him was a mixture of nishta and something else. As Daniel struggled to break free, Sam reached over and injected his neck.

The effect was almost instantaneous. Daniel immediately became relaxed and fell back towards Sam. She stood and pulled Daniel up with her. She dragged him over to the wall and sat him up against it. Daniel's thoughts were lost in a cloud of confusion so much so that he didn't have the strength to fight back. Sam took Daniel's gun from his side and stood up. She ran to the control room and started to dial up the gate.

***

The alarms blared around the SGC for unauthorised gate activation. Hammond was already on his way to the control room with a young lieutenant when he heard them. The two men picked up speed as they ran in. "Get the blast doors open!" Hammond ordered. The lieutenant complied and the blast doors opened in time for the two to see Sam stood before the event horizon of the gate, holding a weary looking Daniel and his gun. "Shut down the gate," Hammond said.

"I can't, sir," the lieutenant answered, "I'm locked out!"

The noise from the blast doors caused Sam to spin around to face Hammond in the control room. She pulled Daniel closer to her and held the gun to his head. "If you attempt to stop me in anyway, I will not hesitate to kill him."

Hammond held out a hand to stop the lieutenant. "Do we have the address of the planet?" he asked.

"Yes, sir," came the reply. Hammond nodded and watched as Sam stepped closer to the wormhole and stepped through, letting Daniel fall inches before it onto the ramp. The wormhole disengaged and Hammond ran down to the Gate room to help Daniel, all the time wondering where Sam had gone, and if they would ever be able to bring her back alive.


	15. Research

A/N: I re-edited this chapter after the e-mail from pettygrew. For some of the points I have changed parts of the last chapter and this one, but for others I have left it, as I have written the next couple of chapters which hopefully will make everything become clear. I'm writing whenever I get chance, unfortunately I have three exams in the next three weeks so I'm going to be revising for those. Hopefully I'll continue to update but if you're wondering where I've got to then the chances are I'm stressed out on exams. So here's the slightly changed version of chapter 15…

********************************************************************************************************

Doctors make the worst Patients. Alexa mused as she finished adjusting Janet's sling on her broken arm. Since coming to, Janet had not wanted to sit still, insisting that she felt fine. She had practically jumped up from the bed when Hammond came into the infirmary carrying a muttering Daniel through to the infirmary. "What happened?" she asked.

"He's started hallucinating, much as the Colonel did before," he answered. Janet looked down at Daniel. His face was dripping with sweat and he was calling out something inaudible. She felt immediate sympathy for him and motioned for the General to place him on a bed. He did so, and Daniel opened his eyes. "Sha're, no!" Janet ran over to him and held his arm.

"Daniel. It's okay, you're safe." But he continued to cry out to his dead wife, "I don't think he can hear me," Janet said. She felt a tear stinging at her eye and turned away. He had been through more than his fair share in the past few days.

By now, Jack was coming to and wasn't feeling too good. He groaned as he woke up, catching the attention of everyone in the room. He rolled over, almost falling off the edge of the bed and managed to stand up. Janet moved to stand in front of him as he tried to walk out. "Oh no you don't, Colonel. You need rest."

"He's not the only one," Alexa piped up from behind Janet. Her arms were folded and she had a stern look on her face directed at Janet. She sighed as Jack shook his head 

"I have to find Daniel," he explained. Janet held out her good arm to stop Jack advancing and nodded at the archaeologist behind him. He turned around. "What happened?" he asked, worry etched on his face. Hammond answered him.

"He was attacked, by the Goa'uld, just as you were. It looks as though the entry wound on his neck had reopened, possibly because as a result of being taken as a host again, or simply because of a struggle that aggravated it. We can't be sure."

"The Goa'uld…" Jack muttered, almost to himself, "Carter… it's in Carter, " he said louder for everyone to hear.

"We know," Hammond answered, "unfortunately we were too late. She left through the Stargate. We had no choice but to let her go."

"We have to find her!" Jack protested, almost shouting.

"We will," Hammond continued, "we have the address of the planet she's gone to…"

"Then what the hell are we waiting for?" Jack was almost shouting.

"SG Teams two through six are currently offworld, and in case you hadn't noticed, SG-1 isn't exactly fit for duty right now and you've had the most experience with the Goa'uld. In my opinion you're the best team to bring back Major Carter alive and well."

Jack sighed in defeat and looked around. Daniel wasn't looking well, he had to admit that, but he himself was fine. _Teal'c, where's Teal'c? _"Where's Teal'c?" he said aloud. Hammond looked at Janet. She ran out of the room followed by Jack. Alexa was not happy.

***

Janet ran into the control room, but couldn't see Teal'c. She ran through top the other side, almost bumping into the Jaffa as he came through the opposite door. "Teal'c! Are you okay?" she asked. Teal'c nodded.

"I am indeed, Doctor Fraiser."

"Teal'c, buddy," Jack jumped in, "what happened?"

"I believed Major Carter had become a host to the Goa'uld. I attempted to stop her before she shot me with a Zat'n'ktel blast."

"But you're okay?" Jack asked.

"I am fine, O'Neill. Do not concern yourself. What of Major Carter?"

"Ah, yeah," Jack began, "We got a bit of a problem there. See, she's gone somewhere through the 'gate and Hammond won't let us go find her until we're all fit for duty. Personally, I feel fine."

"As do I, O'Neill."

"Yeah. Unfortunately, Daniel's a bit out of it at the moment so we're gonna have to wait."

***

A couple of days later, Daniel was wide awake and very miffed. He had already tried to get up from the bed several times in the last couple of hours, but had been stopped by Alexa, who insisted that she would keep at least one of her patients in the infirmary until they were one hundred percent well. Daniel had protested, they had argued and Alexa had won. Jack had managed to avoid Alexa's icy temper for the time being, but took the chance to visit his friend, now that Daniel was feeling better.

"Hey, Daniel," He offered. Daniel muttered a reply and Jack shrugged it off. Daniel looked over to where Alexa was. She was busy with some paperwork. Daniel took his chance, jumped up and ran out of the infirmary, much to Jack's amusement. He laughed, causing Alexa to look round. She sighed at the empty bed. _Why is it always me?_

***

Jack followed Daniel on his escape and found him in his office at the computer, muttering something to himself. "Daniel? Wat'cha doin'?" when Daniel didn't answer, Jack went to look for himself. He leaned over Daniel's shoulder to see what was on the screen. "Nephthys?"

"The Goa'uld, it's called Nephthys." Daniel answered.

"How do you know?"

"I remembered something when it was in me," he continued, shuddering at the thought, "one of the things was its name. Nephthys."

"Anyone we know?" Jack asked, still leant over Daniel.

"Jack, would you mind not breathing down my neck?" Jack jumped up as though he had been shot. He mumbled an apology. Daniel continued, "Nephthys was the daughter of Seb and Nut, the sister of Osiris, Isis and Seth, the wife of Seth, and the mother of Anubis, either by Osiris or Seth."

"Close knit family," Jack commented. Daniel continued to read what was on the screen.

"In the earliest times Nephthys was regarded as the female counterpart of Seth, and she was always associated with him; nevertheless she always appears as the faithful sister and friend of Isis, and helps the widowed goddess to collect the scattered limbs of Osiris and to reconstitute his body."

"Ugh!"

"Yeah… unfortunately for us, the Goa'uld Osiris isn't dead, but Isis and Seth are."

"So this is gonna be one hell of a pissed off snake?"

Daniel nodded. "With us. And this also means that when L'Anya came here, and we thought she was a Jaffa, she can't have been, because Nephthys must have already been an established Goa'uld." He paused, "Remember the summit I went to?" he asked, not waiting for a reply, "Osiris was there to represent Anubis. Jacob told me Anubis was banished from the System Lords for around a thousand years before now for 'unspeakable crimes'. The System Lords present at the summit voted and accepted him back. From the sounds of things he's pretty powerful, possible even more than the rest of the System Lords put together. Everyone but Yu voted in his favour."

"Me?" Jack asked

Daniel sighed, "Yu the System Lord."

Jack forced a smile and pointed at Daniel, "I knew that," he said.

"Now for the major problem. If Nephthys still has a strong link with Osiris, and Osiris with Anubis, then Nephthys could well be in league with Anubis, too."

"Most powerful." Jack mused. Daniel nodded.

"And if I'm right, we're gonna have big problems getting Sam back."

A/N: Please review. Hopefully the next chapter will be up a.s.a.p. if I can get time to write.


	16. Family Reunion

The corridor leading from the Stargate was silent, deserted and, aside from two small burning lamps, devoid of any proper lighting. From a few rooms away came the distant sound of marching Jaffa, the sound disappearing as quickly as it had begun.

Nephthys walked through the hallways slowly, taking in every detail of the décor. It had been almost a millennium since she had last visited this place. It felt good to be back at last.

Upon coming to a large, golden door, Nephthys stopped. She pressed a small, triangular control to the side and the door slid open in response. The main chamber ahead was lit in a much better way. The light enhanced the beauty of the stately room. Large, red velvet drapes hung from the ceiling and walls and golden decoration dominated the room. She stepped inside, marveling at the sight, and the door slid shut behind her. A similar door opened seconds later at the opposite end of the room. Two Jaffa guards entered, the second holding a staff weapon up, ready to shoot at the first sign of trouble. The first spoke, "Who are you?" he demanded. Nephthys ignored the pathetic question.

"Where is Osiris?" she asked harshly. She had no time to waste with these servants.

"My Lord Osiris does not wish to be disturbed at this time. Again I must ask, who are you?" once again the question was ignored.

"Tell your Lord Osiris that Nephthys has arrived and wishes to speak with him. If you question me again I shall not be pleased." She folded her arms and waited for a response. The first Jaffa bowed slightly and hurried out of the room followed by the second. The door closed and Nephthys walked further into the room, exploring and admiring every aspect of it. She made her way to the centre of the room and sat down on a large, deep red velvet covered chair, facing the door through which the Jaffa had exited. Moments later the door opened, and a woman whom Nephthys did not recognise walked in. She spoke. 

"Nephthys, I presume? It has been a long time since I saw you last."

"Osiris?" Nephthys asked, the slight disbelief evident in her voice.

"Surprised?" Osiris walked to sit opposite where Nephthys sat. Nephthys smiled.

"It is good to finally see you after so long. I did not expect to see you occupying a female host, though I congratulate you on your choice. She is a fine example."

Osiris did not seem to take that as a compliment. Her expression soured upon looking at Nephthys. "Unfortunately, I am unable to say the same in your case. The host you currently inhabit has caused me much difficulty in the past. I do not like to see her face."

Nephthys relaxed into the chair. "My time on the Tau'ri planet was spent in three separate hosts. This one was the strongest in body and in mind. I am sorry you do not appreciate this appearance." Osiris smiled at the explanation and a thought entered her mind.

"Tell me," she began, "did you spend any of this time in the one named Daniel Jackson?"

"As a matter of fact," she answered, "he was the weakest of the three. I did not spend long in his body before I was stopped by the Shol'va Teal'c. However, Jackson seems to mean a great deal to the people on his planet. I was able to use him to make sure of my escape."

Osiris sat forward. "You left them alive? That's not what I would have done. Nevertheless, you should have brought Jackson here. I would have taken great delight in killing him - very slowly. He also has caused problems that have hindered me in the past. However, I am curious to learn of how you managed to get to their planet."

"It was a deception that the fools easily fell for. A female Jaffa had just recently had her primta removed at the point of maturation and would have died, there being no replacement for her to carry. She was a fitting host and accommodated me. She was a fool, like many of the Jaffa who inhabit that planet. They have not yet heard of the growing rebellion against our race. As for the one named Daniel Jackson, I was not concerned with your amusement, Osiris, and I left the hosts alive, as I was not guaranteed to escape from the planet. However, you may still get the chance to do as you please. I intend to return to the Tau'ri with backup from Lord Anubis' Jaffa. I cannot be expected to take an entire planet by myself. He expects too much of me. Would you accompany me, for old time's sake?"

Osiris stood, arms folded and eyebrows raised. She leaned over Nephthys. "Anubis will not just hand over his Jaffa for a war with the Tau'ri. He does believe, as I do, that they are becoming more of a threat through the alliances they make and the few Goa'uld they have destroyed, but he will not take the risk of his entire force over one planet. He has lost many of his Jaffa in the recent war with the Tok'ra on Ravana, by the fault of the Tau'ri. I also believe you are forgetting the minor problem of the barrier which protects the Tau'ri Stargate from penetration. They may be a primitive race but they're not stupid." Osiris spat out the last word as though it tasted bad.

"And I believe _you _are forgetting that I am slowly gaining access to the memories of this host. As I said, she has a strong mind, but I will soon break through the mental barrier she has put up. I can guarantee that a rescue will be attempted within the day. With help from the Jaffa we will trap those who come in search of their friend. By then we will have everything we need to launch an all-out attack on the planet. It is only a matter of time."

Osiris sat back down and smiled. "I take back my earlier comment. You may have made the perfect choice of host. I only hope that you are correct. The Tau'ri have caused the Goa'uld many problems in the past. Their destruction will be a great achievement in our history, and Anubis will be greatly pleased." She stood. "Come, we have much to catch up on. We should talk in my chamber." She walked towards the door, followed shortly by Nephthys.

Osiris turned around as they left the room. "This day will be one remembered by all Goa'uld, for millennia to come, as the day when the Tau'ri bowed down to their gods and surrendered their lives to us."

A/N: Please review. I'm sorry but this may be the last chapter for a few weeks. Got a busy few days coming up but I promise to try to get the next chapter up a.s.a.p. let me know if you're still enjoying it (if you were in the first place!).


	17. Ambush

A/N: Hope you're still enjoying. Personally I don't like Chapter 16 - no cliffhanger. So I posted this chapter too. Please R&R.

The following morning Jack began to make his way back to the mountain with determination. He had slept for less than an hour the previous night and was determined that it would not happen again any time soon. As he drove along the main road, fatigue almost got the better of him and he swerved to avoid a motorbike overtaking him. He cursed under his breath at the driver before glancing at his speedometer. Realising he was doing little over ten miles per hour he sped up, mentally slapping himself to keep awake.

On arriving at the base Jack went straight to Daniel's office. He found the younger man flat out across his desk, his glasses crooked across his nose. Jack walked up behind him and ruffled Daniel's hair up. "Hey, wake up." Daniel awoke with a start. His glasses fell onto the floor and he leaned down to pick them up and place them back on his face. "You should get that fixed," Jack commented, pointing to the large crack across the left lens. "Is this coffee?" he asked, gesturing to a cup on the desk.

Still half asleep, Daniel squinted at the cup. "Uh… it was about twelve hours ago."

"It'll do." Jack stated and downed the cold liquid in one gulp, shuddering at the bitter taste. "It's cold but it's caffeine. Rough night?" he continued, looking down at Daniel.

Daniel sat up, "I was dreaming. Not last night: yesterday. Vivid dreams, I couldn't shake them off. This was the first peaceful sleep I've had in two days."

A look of concern crossed over Jack's face, "Dreaming about what?"

Daniel hesitated. "Sha're," he finally answered. We were on Abydos together. It was strange. Everything was fine and then suddenly she changed…"

"She blamed you for her death didn't she?"

Daniel spun around on his chair and made eye contact with Jack. "How did you know?"

"Because I saw Charlie and Sara. Same thing. We were talking and then he changed and told me it was my fault he died." Jack became uncomfortable talking about his dream and tried to explain, "It was the nishta. Gotta be."

"Nishta?" Daniel asked.

"The Goa'uld, she told me she'd mixed some nishta with something from the infirmary. Made me feel drowsy then I started dreaming. Or hallucinating. I'm not sure which."

"Where did she get it from?" Daniel asked. Jack shrugged. "She must have given it to me too." Daniel continued.

"Makes sense." Jack said. He quickly changed the subject, "I'm gonna go have a little chat with Hammond about going after Carter." He started to leave the room. Daniel called after him.

"You didn't sleep last night, did you?"

"So?"

"Look, I wanna see Sam back and safe as much as you do, but we're in no fit state to go on a rescue mission. Don't be stupid. You're not thinking straight. I don't…"

Jack didn't let him finish. "I'm fine, Daniel. A little tired, but I'm fine. I'm gonna find her, but if you don't wanna come with me then that's fine." With that he left the room. He knew he wasn't fit enough to go, but he was damned if he was going to stand back and wait for everyone else to do something while Carter was missing on some damned Goa'uld planet, trapped inside her own body. He didn't bother going to see Hammond. If he had the same attitude towards him that Daniel did there was no way he would get authorisation to go after her. He went straight to the locker room.

When he emerged a few minutes later, dressed in black, he was greeted by Daniel and Teal'c, but was not happy to see them. He ignored Teal'c. "What do you want, Daniel?"

"Look, Jack. I realise that there's no way I'm gonna convince you to back down from this, so if you're going then we're coming with you." Jack walked away but Daniel grabbed his arm. "It's all or none of us, Jack. It's your choice. We've got a much better chance of bringing Sam back alive if we all go."

Jack hesitated, torn between pride and need for backup. "Fine," he said, "go to the infirmary, get some kind of sedative. Meet me in the armoury in ten minutes."

"Sedative?" Daniel asked, his eyebrows raised in question.

"Yeah, Daniel, sedative. 'Cause we got a control room full of people who aren't gonna let us through the gate on an unauthorised mission if we just ask politely. Unfortunately that's not the way it works in the Air Force."

"You haven't spoken to General Hammond?" Daniel's response was more of a surprised accusation than a question, and he already knew the answer. This was Jack's way.

Jack was beginning to get impatient. "No, Daniel, I haven't. If you thought this was a bad idea I honestly don't think he's gonna disagree with you. Armoury - Ten minutes." With that he started down the corridor towards the armoury.

Daniel and Teal'c met Jack in the armoury just five minutes later, and Jack knew they were serious about going. "Get it?" Jack questioned Daniel. Daniel nodded back and Jack handed out weapons: a Zat and P-90 for himself and a Zat and tranquilliser gun for Daniel. Teal'c retrieved his staff and they were ready. 

The corridors were deserted away from the armoury, but the control room made up for it. Jack stood around the corner and looked around the corner. He could see seven people in all. He indicated this to Daniel and Teal'c and quietly crept in with the sedative that Daniel had stolen from the infirmary, followed by Daniel with another dose. They managed to use it on four men before the other three people in the room noticed something amiss. Daniel quickly moved around the corner and loaded up the tranquilliser gun. He rushed back to see that Jack had drugged one more person, and another had hold of Jack, holding him back. Daniel aimed and fired. Moments later, Jack was free and Daniel aimed at the last remaining person. She spun around and held up her hands, "Don't shoot!" she yelled. 

"Alexa?" Daniel lowered the gun.

"Are you going after Major Carter?" she asked, letting her hands fall back down.

"Yeah," he answered. Jack went to the computer, closed the access doors and searched for the planet Sam had gone to. As soon as he began to dial up, the alarms went off. Alexa stepped up to Daniel. 

"Let me help. I can hold off anyone who tries to stop you. I want to see Sam back, too."

Daniel smiled. "Thank you," he said gratefully. He nodded to her and followed Jack and Teal'c out of the door and into the Gate room. Once inside, Daniel looked back up at Alexa. She smiled and turned around as someone came into the control room. 

"C'mon Daniel. Get a move on!" Jack yelled just before he ran through the event horizon of the 'gate. Teal'c followed. Daniel watched for a few more seconds, as Alexa was held back and someone tried to disengage the gate. Alexa mouthed 'go' to him through the window and he turned his back and followed Jack and Teal'c through the gate.

The three emerged on the other side of the gate and were greeted by silence. They found themselves in a large room, the only light from the Stargate. The wormhole disengaged and there was almost total darkness. A single flame in the corridor ahead provided just enough light for them to see each other. Jack motioned towards the door and he and Teal'c took up positions at either side. Daniel crouched bedside Jack and waited as Teal'c stepped forward to check for movement down the corridor. He nodded that it was clear and Jack began moving forward, followed by Daniel. The sound of distant footsteps grew closer, but the direction from which they were coming was unclear. Teal'c began walking down the corridor, but was stopped by a loud voice behind him.

"Stop!" Teal'c spun around and saw that the voice belonged to a Jaffa. Teal'c raised his staff to take a shot. The discharge flew down the corridor before being absorbed by a force shield. The blue shimmer obstructed Teal'c's view, and when it cleared he saw that six more Jaffa had joined the first. All of them had weapons and the first Jaffa disengaged the force shield. Teal'c realised he had no chance and dived back into the room he had come from. Jack looked around the corner and began firing at the group. Two Jaffa fell, and two more from Daniel's Zat blasts. 

Jack leaned around the corner again and set off another round. It lasted a few seconds before he was suddenly out of bullets. The first Jaffa was still standing, and raised up his staff. He took aim and fired, blasting Jack's thigh and causing him to fall back against the wall. He cried out in pain and Daniel reached out and dragged him back into the room. Jack closed his eyes, willing the pain away while Daniel continued to fire. 

The collective noise from the guns and staffs drowned out the sound of the door behind the Stargate opening, whilst the group of Jaffa kept Daniel and Teal'c busy firing. Jack tried to ignore the growing pain in his leg and looked up. He found himself facing the wrong end of a staff weapon, while Teal'c was shot down by a Zat blast, and Daniel was knocked off balance by another Jaffa, who had come through the door, and pinned to the ground with a staff. Jack grabbed the staff pointing at him, but his weakened state meant that he was no match. The Jaffa pulled back the staff and brought it crashing down onto Jack's injured leg. He cried out before the staff made contact with his jaw, and the Jaffa's fist with his face. Daniel yelled out for them to stop and was silenced by the staff holding him down. Daniel instinctively grabbed his own face where he was hit and heard a low voice. "Disarm them." The voice barked. "Lord Osiris will be most pleased." The voices around Daniel faded, as did the feeling of being dragged across the floor, as he felt the impact against the side of his head of something cold and hard. Blackness was all he knew.


	18. Imprisonment

A/N: Finally we can upload!! WOOHOO!! Here's chapter 18. Big thanks to Linzi for correcting the spelling and stopping people clenching their fits, and BIG THANKS TO LAURA FOR YOUR KICK ASS IDEA!!!! It's here girl, ;) Please review!!

Daniel awoke to a sore head. He opened his eyes to a blur of colours. A figure stood across the room, dressed in white. He rubbed his eyes under his glasses and blinked. Whoever it was had now left. He looked around him. He was in a large, brightly-lit golden room with a large opening at one either end. To his left he could see Teal'c, already awake and seemingly in meditation. Daniel though it best not to disturb him. To his left was Jack, slumped in the corner, his eyes closed. Daniel noted the steady rise and fall of Jack's chest. He was asleep. The wound on his leg had disappeared and he seemed fine, apart from a small incision just above his left eyebrow, the blood now dried. Daniel quietly crept over to him and shook his arm. "Jack?" he whispered. Jack awoke from what had seemed like a peaceful sleep and jumped when he saw his surroundings.

"What the hell?"

"Goa'uld," Daniel stated, "The markings on the wall. You remember when we came through the gate?"

Jack held a hand over the cut on his head and nodded, "We were ambushed."

A look of concern flashed across Daniel's face at his friend's action. "Your head okay Jack?"

Jack held up a defensive hand, "It's fine, Daniel, just fine. Forget about it."

Daniel sighed "Yeah, well I think Osiris is here. I overheard one of the Jaffa talking before I was hit."

Jack sat up. "You seen anyone around?"

"I saw someone before, but they went before I had a proper look. I don't know who it was."

Jack felt for his gun. "I've been disarmed," he said in an annoyed voice, "damn. Where's Teal'c?"

"I am here, O'Neill," Teal'c voice came from behind Daniel. Jack stood up.

"You seen anyone around, Teal'c?"

"I have not. However, I believe we are in a Goa'uld holding cell."

"With two open doors?" Jack asked, walking across the room towards the door at the far side. He found himself walking straight into an invisible force shield. "Ah!" he yelled as he jumped back. "Yeah. Should'a guessed." The rest of the room was clearly visible on the other side but the three of them only had about a quarter of the entire space in the room to themselves. Jack walked to the opposite side of the room and put out his hand, making contact with the blue shimmer of another shield. He clenched his fist and hit the shield as hard as he could, before throwing himself around and back against the wall. He held his head down in his hands and muttered something.

"Jack?" Daniel asked, cautiously getting up and walking across the room. He stood over Jack.

"Leave me alone, Daniel," Jack said into his hands, "just go away." He spoke quietly, almost inaudible to Daniel, who ignored him and knelt down in front of him, his face a picture of concern.

"Jack? Are you sure you're okay?" he knew the answer was no, but he had a strong feeling that wasn't the answer he was going to get. He continued. "It's okay, Jack. We're gonna get out of here. Just hold on."

Jack clenched his fists, pulling at clumps of his greying hair. Daniel stretched out his hand towards Jack, but was stopped by a sudden change. Jack slammed his hands against the wall and pushed himself up, straight into Daniel. The younger man went flying backwards into the opposite wall and felt the breath knocked out of him. He looked up to see Jack dashing towards him, impacting his stomach. Daniel doubled over and Jack's fist connected with his bottom jaw, causing him to cry out in pain. "This is all your fault, you stupid son of a bitch!" Jack yelled whilst randomly hitting out at Daniel.

Teal'c jumped up and made a run up behind Jack. He grabbed Jack's arms and held them back. "O'Neill! Stop!" Teal'c had to use a lot of force to keep Jack back from Daniel, but he was strong enough. Jack lashed out with his feet in Daniel's direction, catching the back of his knee and causing him to stumble to the floor. Teal'c pulled Jack back through his shouts of protest and Daniel struggled back up. He took a deep breath of recovery before suddenly lunging towards Jack and knocking him back into the force shield at the opposite end of the room. Teal'c also fell back towards the floor. Daniel began throwing hard left and rights at Jack in a fit of blind rage. Jack threw himself back towards Daniel and both men were knocked to the floor. 

Teal'c leapt up and grabbed Jack by the shoulders, pulling him up. Jack tried to pull away again, and Teal'c pulled him to the floor. Jack's face was a picture of fury. In the middle of the struggle, Teal'c struck out and hit Jack squarely in the nose, knocking his head back to the floor. Jack's hands instinctively went to his face and he immediately calmed. Teal'c looked up to see Daniel had also relaxed and was staring at him with a baffled expression, breathing heavily from the fight. Jack sat up and blinked hard, one hand still on his face attempting to stop the blood dripping from his nose. He looked shocked and confused. "Okay…" he began, "what the hell was that?" Teal'c raised an eyebrow and looked at Daniel, who shrugged.

"Hey, don't look at me!" He directed his attention towards Jack. "You threw the first punch!"

"_Me_?" Jack yelled back. "What about you? That was one hell of a left hook you threw at me. Don't even get me started on you Teal'c! Did you have to hit me that damn hard?" he asked Teal'c, looking at his own hand, covered in blood from his face. Teal'c tilted his head slightly to one side.

"You would not restrain yourself, O'Neill." He stated simply. Jack sighed. Did he really expect a different answer?

"Yeah, well I'd still like to know what happened. I sure as hell didn't mean to do that," Jack said. _Though I've always wanted to, _he added silently.

"Drugs?" Daniel suggested. "Behaviour modification?"

Jack looked at Teal'c. "You know of the Goa'uld having any of this kinda technology?"

Teal'c considered for a moment. "I do not, but the Goa'uld have made significant advancements in technologies since I left the service of Apophis. Perhaps Anubis had acquired this technology from a race besides the Goa'uld."

"Yeah well I just hope…." He was interrupted by a loud thump at the other end of the room. All three heads turned towards the sound. Four Jaffa entered the room lead by a single figure dressed in white. Daniel recognised the person immediately, and it didn't take long for Jack and Teal'c to catch on. "Osiris." Jack whispered to himself. Osiris nodded silently to one of the Jaffa, and he pushed a small panel on the wall. The force shield disengaged and slid to the floor with a soft whooshing sound. Three of the Jaffa kept staffs trained on Jack, Daniel and Teal'c. "Nice to see you again," Jack said to Osiris, no feeling present in his voice. Osiris ignored him and looked straight at the one she had been waiting for.

"Daniel Jackson," he began, a smile spreading across her face, "I have waited for this moment for a long time." Osiris looked at the fourth Jaffa. He nodded and walked over towards Daniel. Grabbing him roughly by the arm, he pulled Daniel to his feet and escorted him to stand in front of Osiris.

"Kneel before your god!" he barked. Daniel remained standing, looking straight into the eyes that glowed before him, looking, searching for something that may still remain of his friend. The Jaffa yelled for Daniel to kneel again, and again Daniel ignored him. Another Jaffa moved behind him, striking the back of his left knee with his staff, which had been pointed at Daniel. Daniel's legs gave way and he found himself impacting the ground and looking up at Osiris. Osiris turned away from Daniel and walked over to a large golden chest at the far side of the room, which Daniel had only just noticed. Upon opening it, Osiris took out four items as Daniel watched: a GDO, a gun, a ribbon device, and something small and black that Daniel didn't recognise. He could guess what was coming. Osiris handed the GDO and gun to the fourth Jaffa and slid the ribbon device over her own hand. She held the fourth item up before Daniel.

"A most remarkable device," she began, "it enhances the negative thoughts, feelings and emotions present in the brain of anyone implanted with a small chip."

__

So that's what happened, Daniel thought. He looked over at Jack who had reached the same conclusion. It showed on his face as he nodded.

"Sorrow," Osiris continued, "pain, fear, _Anger._ I am sure you have already noticed its effects." Osiris nodded to the Jaffa with the gun. He re-engaged the force shield and handed the gun to Osiris, who crouched down to look Daniel straight in the eyes. "A most primitive weapon." Her voice lowered as she moved closer to Daniel, "but I have no doubt of the excruciating pain it can cause when used." Osiris stood and handed the gun back to the Jaffa, along with the black box, all the time keeping his eyes fixed with Daniel's. She could see the fear in them, even if Daniel wouldn't admit it. The Jaffa held the gun against Daniel's back and Daniel swallowed hard. Osiris brought out the GDO and held Daniel's chin tight with the other hand, forcing Daniel to look straight up at him. "Tell me the numbers that will open the barrier on your world." Daniel stared up, unanswering. Osiris became impatient and let go of Daniel's chin. She brought her hand up over Daniel's forehead and the bright stone in the centre of the ribbon device glowed. The heat burned at his head, pain concentrated at a single point, unbearable. Just as Daniel felt he was about to pass out, Osiris stopped and grabbed Daniel's chin again, pulling his face towards her. "Tell me the sequence, or I will not be as merciful next time." Daniel stared back up at her.

"Got to hell!" he muttered, as loud as he could manage through the residual pain and headache. Osiris smiled cruelly.

"Very well. I shall see you there." She lifted her eyes from Daniel and nodded to the Jaffa behind him, who moved closer, pushing the gun into Daniel's back. Daniel winced and closed his eyes, anticipating the pain. "Goodbye, Daniel Jackson," Osiris added with an evil smile, before the Jaffa pulled the trigger and a shot rang out around the room. Daniel fell to the floor, unmoving. His still open eyes unseeing. A feeling of anger shot through Jack as fast as the bullet and he leapt up, angrily hitting the force shield with both fists.

"Son of a bitch!" he yelled, as the four Jaffa left the room lead by Osiris, ignoring the shouts and dragging Daniel across the floor and out of the door, a trail of blood staining the cold floor.

A/N: Thanks for reading. Hopefully 19 will be up shortly… Comments? Please review!! Death threats? Um…. It was Laura's idea!! (fuzzywuzzy - read her fic it kicks ass (just like her idea). Anyway, please review.


	19. Hindering Help

A/N: Sorry it's been a while since I last posted. It seems I don't have as much free time as I had anticipated. Never mind. Here's chapter 19. _Hopefully_ 20 will be up shortly, if I can find the time. Please review.

It had been almost seventy-two hours since SG-1 had gone on their unauthorized "mission", and normally this wouldn't have bothered Hammond. SG-1 was lead by a very proud Colonel, and the team were friends who would die for each other without hesitation. But there was a sixth sense inside Hammond telling him that something was wrong, and he couldn't shake it off. On the one hand, he considered SG-1 to be the best team at the SGC, and he had great confidence in their abilities. But on the other hand, there was the very real possibility that they had been captured, and the feeling that the latter was correct would not leave him alone. That same feeling told him that sending any more teams after them would only end in the same result for them, whatever that result may be.

Hammond had sat in his chair behind his desk in his office, counting the hours, frantically awaiting an answer from the Asgard or Tok'ra, both whom he had ordered to be contacted twenty-four hours ago. Neither had yet responded and he was growing impatient, when the gate activation alarms blared around the base. He almost leapt out of his seat, and half ran, half walked to the control room, hoping to see SG-1 emerge through the gate. Failing that, he would settle for one of their allies. Preferably the Asgard, but he doubted it. Their war with the replictors was still going on. He stared out into the gate room, silently praying. The wormhole established, he awaited any sign of movement. After what seemed like forever, a voice broke through his trance. "Receiving Tok'ra IDC, sir."

Hammond breathed a sigh of relief, though part of him was still disappointed that they wouldn't be seeing SG-1 just yet. "Defense teams on high alert. Open the iris." Hammond walked quickly down to the gate room, as Jacob Carter emerged from the wormhole and stepped down the ramp. "Defense teams, stand down." Hammond ordered. He walked over to Jacob as the defense teams made their way out of the room. "Good to see you again, Jacob."

"You too, George," Jacob answered, "the message we got was fairly vague. Something about a Goa'uld?" he asked. Hammond gestured for Jacob to follow him through the door.

"I'll explain in my office."

The walk to Hammond's office was a silent one. Both men were unable to speak. Hammond was carefully contemplating what he was going to tell Jacob: what to say, what to leave out. He didn't like keeping secrets from such an old friend, but since the arrival of Selmak three years ago he could no longer trust Jacob like he used to. In a way that upset him, but it also meant that he didn't need to feel guilty about not telling the entire truth. 

The two men stepped in and Jacob shut the door behind him. He took the other man's silence as a bad sign. He turned to face Hammond. "What's going on, George?" Hammond hesitated. He was in two minds whether or not to tell Jacob that the last he heard his daughter was host to another Goa'uld: he decided against it. He looked up at Jacob from behind his desk.

"Almost seventy-two hours ago, SG-1 went through the Stargate to what we believe to be a planet with at least one powerful Goa'uld, possibly and probably more. They still haven't returned and my gut is telling me there's something wrong." Jacob met Hammond's eyes.

"Do you have the address of the planet?" he asked, worry evident in his voice that mirrored that that Hammond was feeling. Hammond nodded and stood up, leaving the room. Jacob followed him through to the control room. Hammond pointed at the row of six glyphs on the computer screen.

"This is where they went." He looked sideways at Jacob, searching for any sign that Jacob could help. The other man's face was deadly serious. "What is it?" asked Hammond, his face almost a mirror of Jacob's obvious worry. Jacob bowed his head and Selmak emerged. 

"Several Tok'ra operatives have gone missing on this planet. The last official intelligence was that it is one of the many planets controlled by Anubis. To the best of my knowledge there are still two Tok'ra successfully posing as Jaffa servants, but it's been several days since we heard from either. Hopefully it's a good sign and they're avoiding contact to protect their cover. I can't risk contacting them if that is the case. If our intelligence is correct, it is doubtful that SG-1 are still alive."

A twinge of dread rushed through Hammond as he heard. No. He didn't want to believe that. "No," he answered, "I'm not ready to give up on them yet. I have great confidence in SG-1." Selmak nodded. 

"I will see what I can do, but I doubt the Tok'ra council will allow our operatives to be jeopardized."

Hammond was angry, but he didn't show it. _How many times have SG-1 saved the Tok'ra from annihilation?_ He had lost count._ Too many, and it was high time they paid Earth back. _He kept his anger inside as Selmak gave control to Jacob. He was also angry.

"I'm sorry, George. If there were something I could do…" he hesitated, noticing the bitter look on Hammond's face, "I'll see what I can do. There's a possibility we may be able to contact the Tok'ra on this planet, but I can't promise you anything. I'm sorry."

Hammond nodded, not satisfied by any means, but glad that Jacob had come, and understood the human side of the situation better than any of the other Tok'ra he had met. _Having Sam as a daughter sure helps, too. Too bad it won't help if she's already dead._ Once again, Hammond kept his anger in as he bid farewell to Jacob, silently cursing Selmak and the rest of the Tok'ra, but also hoping they would grant Jacob's request to contact the operatives. That same sixth sense that told him of the danger SG-1 were in was now telling him that they needed to hurry up. He just hoped he was wrong. "I hope to hear from you soon, Jake."

"I'm sorry, George." Jacob answered in a heavy tone as he turned to input the Tok'ra coordinates, and he left the room. Hammond watched him closely as he walked through the gate, silently hoping that he would be able to have some influence in the council. After all, he was the "oldest and wisest" among the Tok'ra. _Surely that counts for something?_

He could only hope.

A/N: There it is. I promise to try to get 20 up asap. Please review. No point writing if no one's reading or no one likes it. I'll probably be changing my pen name shotly. Not totally sure what to yet, but if you're interested in reading the rest of this story or others, keep an eye out. My ID number is 169119. Thanks. Again, please review!


	20. Struggle for Control

A/N: Thanks for all the great reviews. They make me smile. Here's chapter 20…

__

It's not real. It can't be real. He can't be dead. It's not real! This can't be happening!

Jack was sat in the corner of the room, his head in his hands, thoughts racing through his mind. It was the third room they had been held in since arriving almost four days ago, and by far the smallest: only about three meters square, with three walls and a force shield across the only opening in the room. Teal'c was sat in the opposite corner to Jack, unmoving, once again in deep kel'no'reem. It had been around twelve hours since either of them had seen any movement on the other side of the shield, and for the most part Jack was thankful. The transition to the current room had been painful, to say the least. Jack had been struck several times on the way there for not walking fast enough. One escape attempt had resulted in a staff being swung in his direction, almost breaking his jaw. Another blow to his chest sent him falling and both he and Teal'c had their hands chained together and Jack was dragged the rest of the way there. Since then, they had been left alone, separated from each other by another force shield perpendicular to the main one.

Jack spent the hours after that replaying Daniel's death in his mind over and over and over. It just wouldn't sink in. He felt so guilty, having made him come along only to die, and still there was no sign of Sam. Had they made a mistake? Had they even come to the right planet? He couldn't be sure, but he swore to himself that if Daniel really had died, he would not have done so in vain.

Teal'c began to open his eyes, allowing them to adjust to the bright light of the room. He stood up with difficulty, due to the chains around his wrists, and walked over to the main force shield. "O'Neill," he said. Jack stood up beside Teal'c and watched as Osiris made her way into the room, followed by two Jaffa, each wielding a staff. She stopped and addressed Teal'c.

"I hope the accommodation is suitable for you."

"Oh yeah, " Jack put in, a hint of the sarcasm in his voice, "peachy." That met a glare from Osiris before she smiled.

"I am sorry for the fate of Daniel Jackson, but it is the price he paid for his insolence. You should take note of it. He had a very merciful death. I may not be as tolerant with you as I was with him."

Despite all he had been though in the past few days, the hunger and thirst he was feeling, and the attacks, Jack managed a small laugh. He didn't know where it had come from, and he immediately regretted it as he looked up and saw Osiris disengage the force shield and walk towards him. She crouched down before him and held his chin up, a sharp look on her face. "Osiris does not joke. I hope for your sake that Nephthys is able to break through to your friend's mind, because if she fails, the alternative will not be pleasant for you." She spoke slowly, as if to make sure that every word sunk in to Jack's mind, so that he could process the information.

Jack stared at Osiris straight in the eyes, showing no fear. "Where's Carter?" Osiris turned and walked away from Jack. "Where the hell is she?" he yelled as loud as he could. Osiris turned back.

"Your friend as you know her is gone. Now only Nephthys remains. I suggest you remember that. It will help you in the near future." She re-engaged the force shield and left the room. The two Jaffa remained behind, watching Jack and Teal'c carefully. Jack stared back.

"What are you lookin' at?" he asked one of them. The Jaffa averted his eyes. Jack walked back to the far wall and slid down it to sit on the floor. "Slimy snake-in-the-gut," He added under his breath.

The second Jaffa regarded Teal'c with a questioning eye. Suddenly realising who he was he walked to his friend and pointed at Teal'c. "This one is the Shol'va. Do you recognise him?" His question was met with a silent nod. "We shall be rewarded greatly for the capture of this one," he added. Teal'c looked over at Jack and raised an eyebrow. Jack shrugged.

"Looks like you're the galaxy's most wanted."

Suddenly, both Jaffa stood to attention at the sound of footsteps. Jack watched as Osiris entered the room. He sighed and closed his eyes, allowing his head to rest back against the wall. He had had enough of this. A voice broke through his boredom.

"I suggest you refrain from sleeping," Osiris said, "you will find the next few minutes very interesting." Jack's eyes snapped open at the thought of saying something cocky back to her, but he was stopped by the person he saw walking through the door. His eyes grew wide.

"Carter!" he leapt up, temporarily forgetting the fact that the person he saw in front of him was not who she appeared to be.

"Spare me the emotion," Nephthys answered back, "your friend is gone and you will never speak to her again. Unfortunately for me, she has a strong mind, which means that I have not yet been able to break through to the information that I need. You will provide it."

Jack tried his best to see past the face he saw before him and remember who it actually was. "And if I don't?" he asked.

"It is simple. Either you tell me what I want to know, or I will kill you. Slowly. When I am through with you, you will wish that you had told me everything." She held the cold glare with Jack as she spoke. He walked as close to the shield as he could without touching it and looked her in the eye, searching.

"Carter…" he whispered. Nephthys shook her head slowly.

"You are a fool. A weak and ignorant fool." Jack held the stare as a Jaffa disengaged the force shield. Nephthys walked towards him, mirroring the glare. He didn't move. Out of the corner of his eye, Jack saw Osiris leave the room, a smug look present on her face. The Jaffa stayed behind, each keeping a staff trained on Jack and Teal'c, ready to fire at the first sign of trouble. Jack held his ground as Nephthys got close to him: too close for comfort. "Tell me the code that protects your planet." She demanded. Jack allowed a small smile to break onto his face.

"She's too strong for you, isn't she? And you're getting pretty pissed off that you can't get through. Aren't you?" Jack teased. Nephthys regarded him with a look of pure hatred.

"She is strong. But I am stronger. It is only a matter of time before I break through. By denying me the knowledge all your are doing is delaying the inevitable destruction of your pathetic planet. I will get it out of you, whatever it takes. I will…" she stopped suddenly, he expression changing to one of distress. Jack watched, confused as she squeezed her eyes shut and shouted: "No!" she looked back at Jack, her eyes wide with a mixture of fear and confusion.

"Sir?" she whispered, in a daze. Jack suddenly realised what had happened and grabbed Sam's wrists, holding them up tight.

"Fight it Carter!"

"I'm... trying…" she answered, breathing heavily, attempting to keep control. She put her head down and became tense. "She's too strong!" she shouted, attracting the attention of both Jaffa.

"Fight it, Carter! Keep control!" Jack yelled. Sam clenched her fists and suddenly pulled them from Jack's grip.

"NO!" she yelled, the voice of Nephthys re-emerging. She threw her arm out, striking an unprepared Jack in the face and sending him stumbling backwards into the wall. The chains around his wrist meant that he couldn't break his fall and he fell hard onto the floor. Within the second Nephthys had pulled a gun from its holder around her waist and moved swiftly to point it down into his face. "TELL ME THE CODE!!" When Jack didn't answer she addressed Teal'c: "Shol'va!" Teal'c looked up. "Tell me the code or I will kill him."

"Don't do it, Teal'c," Jack protested, looking over at him. 

"SILENCE!" Nephthys yelled in her anger. Teal'c met Jack's eyes as Jack shook his head slowly, a solemn look on his face. Nephthys noticed the look and stood back up. "Very well. If you will not cooperate…" she stepped backwards and lowered the gun slightly, feigning leaving them alone. She began to turn her back on the two men and, at the last moment spun back around and fired the gun. Jack cried out as the bullet penetrated his upper leg. He bit down on his lip and held his breath, willing the pain away. Teal'c tried to get to him, forgetting the dividing shield and running into it. Nephthys took a Zat from one of the Jaffa and fired it quickly at Jack. The electricity raced through him, enhancing the piercing pain in his leg. He cried out again before Osiris entered the room, holding the black box she had shown to Daniel before he was shot. She held it up for Jack to focus on, before pressing down on the control and watching as Jack writhed through the new pain, enhanced by Osiris. Teal'c looked on, powerless to stop it, as Jack let out a final cry before tensing up, passing out and falling limp to the wall.

A/N: That was for you, Alexa. Hopefully chapter 21 will be here soon…. Please please please review (I'm begging again…)


	21. A Lucky Escape

He led on his back, still. Silence was all he could hear. Bright whiteness was all he could see. After a few seconds, he felt movement, and heard rumbling close by. The floor seemed to be moving below him. Suddenly, and he could see upwards towards the ceiling. He sat upright, looking over to his left. He felt somehow refreshed, and stood, stepping over the barrier he had touched: the side of a sarcophagus. He shuddered at the thought and tried to remember where he was. He could have sworn he had been shot. _Or was it a dream? _

The room he was in was deserted. It was fairly large, although not one of the largest he had seen here. In the distance he could hear marching of Jaffa, though they were too far away to worry about. He walked to the door, peering out cautiously. The corridor was also devoid of any life. He thought this too good to be true, but took his chance and walked quickly out of the room.

He managed to get about ten metres down the hall before a close voice stopped him dead in his tracks. "Stop!" He turned around to find himself facing a Jaffa with a zat in his hand. He took a quick look over the Jaffa's shoulder. There was only one. He decided to risk it, and he dropped to the floor, kicking out with his feet and knocking the Jaffa off balance. He grabbed the zat and fired it once at the struggling heap on the floor. _No one else has to die today, _he thought, as he continued down the hall. Now, at least, he had a weapon.

Turning around the corner, he scanned the room, holding up the zat and was prepared to fire, but there was no need. This room seemed somehow familiar, but he couldn't place it in his broken memories. Then he noticed the golden box. That struck a chord in his mind. He remembered something. He walked quickly to the box and opened it, just as he remembered Osiris had. Before him, in the box, lay another zat, his own gun, and three GDOs. His mind began racing, trying to make a decision. If he took all three, the Goa'uld would not be able to get to Earth… but neither would anyone else. The sound of footsteps caused him to react. He grabbed his own gun and took one GDO, quickly slipping it into his pocket before racing away from the sound.

It was a bad move. He ran straight into another corridor with at least six Jaffa. Only one was facing him, and immediately shouted to the rest, who turned and began firing. Against almost impossible odds he acted on impulse and dived back the way he had come. A blast from a staff weapon caught him in the foot and he crashed to the floor. He ignored the pain and quickly rolled over to a sitting position, using the zat and his own gun, firing randomly at the doorway as the Jaffa came through. The number of them was their disadvantage. As he continued to fire, the Jaffa fell back into one another and crashed to the floor. He continued to fire, making sure every single one was out of his way.

When all seemed silent again, he struggled to get up with his one good foot. He clumsily hopped to the door and swept his gun to defend against any more attacks. He thanked his lucky stars that there were no more Jaffa, and that the footsteps he had heard before had not been coming in his immediate direction. It was a close call: too close. He was determined it would be the last one. He had to be more careful.

Using the wall for balance, he continued to inch his way along the corridor, ignoring the growing pain in his foot. The place again seemed familiar, and as he carried on the familiarity in his mind grew. After a couple more minutes, he came across an open door to his left. A voice came from within, and he could have sworn it was Osiris. He peered around the corner, attempting to stay out of sight. He was right. He could see Osiris. She was speaking to someone and looking rather pissed off. He looked in the direction she was talking to, and saw a pool of dark red blood on the floor. 

The pain in his foot chose that moment to shoot up his leg and he let out a small cry. Realising what he had done he looked back up, making eye contact with Osiris. She had seen him and was walking towards him. In desperation he began moving away from the door as fast as he could. He could hear Osiris's footsteps getting close, fast. He moved faster, dragging his aching foot behind. He took a look back. Osiris stood there, her hand up with the ribbon device stone glowing. The energy discharged from it and suddenly he felt himself flying through the air, impacting the wall firmly. Disorientation took over almost immediately and lasted for a few seconds, a few seconds in which Osiris had left and sent another two Jaffa after him.

He struggled to regain focus and pulled himself around the next corner, avoiding fire from the staffs. He had lost his own weapons in his confrontation with Osiris. He looked up at the room he was now in. He had found the Stargate. He got back up to stand on his one good foot and hopped to the DHD in the corner of the room. He estimated he had, at most, half a minute. Quickly he dialed Earth's address. As the first Jaffa entered the room and pointed a staff at him, he ducked and initiated the wormhole, the formation of it engulfing the Jaffa before he had the chance to fire.

There was silence. He could have sworn there was more than one Jaffa. He checked in his pocket and was relieved to find that he still had the GDO. He input the code and began his short journey to the 'gate. He took a last look behind him and saw the second Jaffa, about to fire. He pushed himself through the gate from his foot, avoiding a single shot from the staff.

***

The sound of the 'gate activating had risen Hammond's hopes and he ran as fast as he could to the control room. He felt immediate relief at the sight of SG-1's remote code being transmitted. "Open the iris." He ordered. The iris spiraled open in response and Hammond waited. After only a few seconds a single figure emerged and rolled down the ramp.

"Close the iris!" he yelled. Hammond nodded to someone sat at the computer. He didn't take note of who it was an, frankly, he didn't really care. He had other problems. He ran down to the gate room as the iris closed. A loud thud was heard on the iris before the wormhole disengaged. Hammond looked at the man who had come through.

"Colonel O'Neill?" he asked.

Daniel stood and looked Hammond in the eye, his expression one of exhaustion and grief.

"I think he's dead, sir."

A/N: Please review. I'm almost finished. Another two chapters to go, or possibly three. Please please please review!!! Reviews make me want to write!!


	22. Unexpected Ally

Teal'c sat in the corner and observed the stillness. Once again they had been left alone. The blood on the floor from Jack's leg had dried and left a deep red stain on the cold floor. Teal'c looked over at Jack. His chest was moving. He was alive. Teal'c was thankful for that much. As Teal'c looked over at Jack he began to stir. "O'Neill!" Teal'c said, waking Jack up with a start.

"What the hell?" He muttered. Then remembering, he looked down at his leg. "Ah crap!" He pushed himself up with his hands and tried to stand. The repressed pain resurfaced and he yelled out before falling and sliding back down the wall, biting down on his lip, and cursing at no one and nothing in particular.

Jack closed his eyes and tried to ignore the pain. He was interrupted by the sound of footsteps. "Now what?" he leaned forward to get a better view as a Jaffa entered the room. He looked familiar. Then it became clear to Jack. He was the one who had shot Daniel. Totally ignoring his painful leg, Jack pushed himself up. "Damned son of a bitch!" he yelled. The Jaffa ignored him and walked over to the side. Jack watched him closely as he moved to press the button that would disengage the force shield. "You come in here and I swear I'll kill you," Jack said darkly, just loud enough for the Jaffa to hear him. The Jaffa dropped his hand and looked Jack in the eye.

"My name is Tal'Mah. I am Tok'ra"

Jack shook his head and almost laughed. "Why should I believe you?"

"It is true." Was the simple reply.

"You shot Daniel. You _killed _him!"

Tal'Mah sighed. "Daniel Jackson is fine. I took him to the sarcophagus. By now he should have completely healed."

Jack sat back down and attempted to absorb what he had just been told. _Alive? Daniel is alive? _Tal'Mah obviously had other ideas. "We must leave quickly. I do not know how long it will be before we are noticed." He disengaged the force shield and walked over to Jack. With Teal'c's help he pulled Jack up to stand.

Tal'Mah looked at Jack, a serious look on his face. "If I am caught helping you escape, it will endanger the Tok'ra greatly. You must leave quickly."

"Hey! Wait a minute!" Jack almost shouted as Tal'Mah began to turn away, "We came here to rescue a friend. We're not leaving without her."

Tal'Mah nodded. "Major Carter, Jacob's daughter. I am sorry for your loss, but no more can be risked than already has been. I am sure you understand."

"The hell I do! Look, you better make a decision now, because with or without your help we're not going back to Earth without Carter." Jack yelled.

Tal'Mah gave in and sighed. "Very well. I shall show you where she will be, but any more than that I cannot help you. My companion was tortured and killed by Anubis when it was discovered he was Tok'ra. He did not give away my position but I cannot risk that happening now. Do you understand?"

Jack nodded, as did Teal'c. Tal'Mah nodded in response and walked to the door, making sure no one was nearby. Teal'c helped Jack to follow as Tal'Mah continued down the corridor.

As Tal'Mah lead the way, Jack saw how much he was keeping Teal'c back. His leg had lost all feeling and was being dragged behind him as Teal'c struggled to keep up with Tal'Mah. Jack stood still. "Teal'c?" Teal'c stopped and looked at Jack.

"We must move quickly, O'Neill."

"No, Teal'c. Go on without me. I'm only holding you back."

Teal'c ignored Jack and tried to keep moving, but Jack pulled back again. "Damnit Teal'c I'm giving you a direct order. Go!"

"You will surely be killed."

"Yeah, Teal'c. Thanks for reminding me. But it's either that or I hold you back and we're both killed there's no chance of getting Carter back to Earth. Now go!"

Teal'c paused for what seemed like an eternity, before reluctantly letting go of Jack and continuing to catch up with Tal'Mah. Jack stood for a few moments until he was sure Teal'c had gone, before slowly turning around to get out of the corridor. He made his way into a nearby room and leaned on the wall before sliding down to the floor. _This is it. This is where I'm going to die. _He closed his eyes and shut out all feeling within him, welcoming the blackness that came with seriously overdue sleep.

A voice shook him awake. It seemed familiar, yet at the same time, like a stranger. He looked up from the corner where he sat. "Carter?"

Nephthys crouched down beside him. "You just don't get it do you? She's gone. Forever. I tell you this and still you do not learn." She paused. "You are of no use to me. Perhaps I should just kill you now, let my host watch as she sees her own hand be the one that ends your life."

"I thought you said she was gone."

Jack's comment was answered with a sour look from Nephthys. She looked over his face, a smile slowly spreading across her own features. She swiftly raised her hand over his head, the ribbon device wrapped around her wrist and the stone glowing softly. Jack closed his eyes and blocked out the sounds and sensations around him, but no matter how hard he tried, the burning pain crawled through his head like a raging fire. His breath caught in his throat and his eyes opened wide. As the pain seemed at its most intense, it came to an abrupt halt. His eyes shut tight. For a moment Jack thought that his life was over, but there was no light, no pearly gates and no fires of hell. He felt the ground beneath him and heard shouting. Slowly, he opened his eyes and scanned the room. Several Jaffa lay dead or unconscious around the room and Nephthys was staggering before him. Something inside told him everything was okay, and he found himself drifting off to sleep, and felt the sensation of being lifted up and carried away.

A/N: Please review! Only one more chapter to go! Please please please review!!


	23. Comfort

A/N: Well this is it. The end. Big thanks to everyone who reviewed any of the chapters. Here's the last part. All I ask for is one review to let me know what you think of it. Thanks again. Enjoy!

"Colonel? Can you hear me?" the voice sounded far away, getting closer as the seconds passed. "Colonel O'Neill?"

Jack's eyes snapped open suddenly and he focused on the face over him, but he didn't speak. He didn't need to.

"He's awake," the voice said as Janet's face appeared over Jack. "Colonel, can you hear me?" Jack opened his mouth to speak but could only cough. He looked around and saw Daniel smiling at him. Something didn't seem quite right there. He furrowed his brow at the younger man, who suddenly disappeared from view. Jack shook his head and tried to sit up, helped by Janet. "Easy… easy…" she said as he lost his balance and sat back up. "How do you feel?" she asked when he was fully awake.

Jack cleared his throat, "Hungry. Very, very hungry and very, very thirsty"

"Well I'm sure we can do something about that when you're fully back with us."

"Daniel…" he muttered.

"I'm here, Jack," Daniel said from out of the infirmary. He walked in, a sheepish look on his face. "What's wrong?" he asked, smirking slightly, "you look like you've seen a ghost!"

Jack stared at Daniel in disbelief. "I saw you get shot!"

Daniel nodded. "Apparently, Teal'c told me, but I woke up in a sarcophagus."

"You're a stubborn little man aren't you?"

They laughed as Jack began to feel better at a lighter moment, before remembering Sam. "Carter… Where's Carter?" he looked at the faces around him. "Where is she?" he was getting agitated.

"It's okay, Colonel. When you came back, she was sedated. Teal'c had managed to shoot her a couple of times with the tranquilizer. General Hammond contacted the Tok'ra and they took her to remove the Goa'uld. That was six hours ago."

Jack looked up at Janet. "How long were we gone?"

She sighed. "Almost six days, we were almost starting to worry," she joked, "Sam will be fine, Colonel. We just have to wait."

***

The waiting lasted almost another two hours. It was a long two hours that gave Jack time to eat something, but he had suddenly lost his appetite. He couldn't shake the visions of Sam, fighting for control from a damn snake, out of his head. He found himself sitting in the commissary, staring down at a slice of pie that he didn't want to eat, and had no intentions of eating until he could be sure that Sam was safe.

"Sam's gonna be fine, Jack." Daniel assured him from across the table.

"You don't know that, Daniel," Jack said, poking at his pie with a fork, "Remember what happened the last time?"

"Jolinar was a Tok'ra."

"Exactly! Supposedly the good guys. And if that experience was anything to go by then it's gonna be one hell of a lot worse a second time round." He paused, stabbing the pie, " I should never have brought L'Anya back with us."

Daniel shook his head. "There's no way you could have known it would lead to this."

Jack banged his fist on the table, attracting a few looks from others in the commissary, but he didn't care. "Damn it, Daniel. I am the commander of this team and as the commander I have the responsibility to make a risk assessment on every mission. This time I failed, almost got the entire unit killed and now --"

He was interrupted by the 'gate activation sirens blaring around him. Both men jumped up and ran through the corridor and up to the control room. Jack stared through at the 'gate, silently hoping. He was disappointed to see SG-9 emerge through the event horizon and the wormhole disengaged. The seconds passed and Jack stayed, still feeling unable to forgive himself. He was about to walk away when the sirens blared again. He turned back, none of the hope remaining that had been there the previous time, but something was there, a feeling inside him. He ran down the stairs, entered the 'gate room and waited.

It seemed like forever had passed before he finally saw Sam appear through the wormhole along with her father and two other Tok'ra. The expression on Sam's face was unreadable and Jack felt more guilt creep through him. Sam said nothing but walked through to the infirmary in silence. Daniel followed, but Jack waited for a few minutes before finally finding the courage to face his second in command.

The infirmary was dark; the only light emanated from a single candle in the corner. Sam lay on her side, facing the candle. Jack entered the infirmary behind her and watched for a moment. Daniel was stood by the door as Jack walked in. "She hasn't said anything," he informed Jack, "Teal'c gave her the candle to help her relax… god, this must be awful." His voice faded off as Jack walked slowly across the room and sat on the edge of Sam's bed. He stared at the candle for a while, watching the shadows dance across the wall. He passed a finger through the flame.

"Teal'c?" he asked her softly, referring to the candle. Sam nodded, a single tear falling down her cheek as she focused on the flame. Jack reached out and wiped it away. "Hey," he said gently as she lifted her head slightly and made eye contact with him. He looked into her eyes, the sadness evident in the yet unfallen tears. As he watched, his guilt became almost unbearable. He looked down at the floor, searching for the right words. "I am _so_ sorry this happened," he told her quietly, keeping his eyes down. He felt contact on his arm and looked back up at Sam. Still she didn't speak, but shook her head at him. "If I hadn't brought L'Anya back…" his words died off as Sam opened her mouth to speak.

"Couldn't… have… known." The words were almost inaudible, and said with effort. The tears in Sam's eyes began to roll down her face and she blinked hard, the candle flame decaying into a blur of yellows and oranges. She cleared her throat and tried to speak more clearly. "I could see… everything. The pain… the death. She was awful… killed so many… I watched while she almost killed you, Daniel… Teal'c… and I wasn't strong enough to fight it!"

"Hey. You couldn't have been expected to fight it. She fooled all of us."

"I _should…_ have been able to." Sam was getting agitated. Jack held out his hand to touch her arm.

"You can't blame yourself for this. It was my responsibility to assess the risks on that planet and I failed, and as a result this happened. There are some things in this world and in others we're just not powerful enough to fight. We have to accept that and move on. It's just the way things are. You understand?" Sam nodded and wiped away the last tears. Jack looked up to the door, where Teal'c now stood solemnly with Daniel. He nodded at them and Daniel led the way to stand by Jack. "We're all here, and we're all alive," Jack continued, "that's all that matters. No matter what those greasy-ass Goa'uld throw at us we just gotta grin and bear it, 'cause we know we're gonna make it through, just like always." For the first time since arriving back, Sam smiled slightly, thankful for all the things that Jack had just said. She sighed, yawned and closed her eyes, and Jack took that as his cue to leave. He ushered Daniel to the door, along with Teal'c. 

When the two had left, Jack turned and looked at Sam's sleeping form. He still felt guilty, but he had a feeling that the guilt would fade, along with the entire race of Goa'uld. 

One day…


End file.
